With 15 years of clinical experience working in hospital, educational and community settings as an occupational therapy (OT) and assistive technology (AT) consultant,
Debra Young, MEd, OTR/L, ATP, CAPS is uniquely qualified to
blog about the special living needs of seniors and persons with disabilities, as well as their desire to live independently. Since her husband Bill has a C5-C6 incomplete spinal cord injury resulting in quadriplegia, Debra designed their current home to create an accessible, barrier-free environment, while still maintaining the aesthetics by integrating the modifications into the design of the home. In addition, she has been working with her parents to allow them to safely age-in-place in their current home. Her Occupational Therapy-based consulting agency,
EmpowerAbility™, LLC offers aging-in-place, home safety, assistive technology and accessibility consultation to residents of Delaware, Southeastern Pennsylvania and Southern New Jersey. Anyone else wishing to profit from her experience and expertise can visit Debra’s blog,
http://empowerability.wordpress.com/. It’s a treasure-trove of personal stories that convey genuine understanding of the challenges of “living with a wheelchair user” (see, for example,
Summer 2010: Accessible Camping, or not … ) as well as practical ideas for effective caregiving, all designed to promote independence and functional performance in various life environments.