If you have a nonmobile child, where do you live?

[Anonymous]

We have a child with cerebral palsy, she is nonverbal, nonmobile, etc. We will be house hunting in the DC area soon (used to live there so somewhat familiar), and my question is, how have you managed to find/build an accessible home in DC? We would prefer to live in DC for easy access to work, school, and hospital - I also feel like Medicaid for kids wth disabilities is better there, but perhaps I'm wrong - but I just don't see how we find a truly accessible home there. It seems like it's all narrow row houses and even in the more burby areas of NW, it seems unlikely we could find a single level, multi bedroom house?

If your kid is in a wheelchair, what kind of house do you have and where do you live?

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

We are just finishing building an accessible addition on our home with a permanent ramp. The housing stock here is simply not very good for accessible homes. There are very few true ranch houses. You can look for a ranch the further out you go, but there goes accessibility. Almost every house has steps up to the house and lots of steps in the interior.

DO NOT MOVE INTO THE DISTRICT. Services/schools for the disabled are horrible.

Condo living is a possibility if you are intent on the district or close in.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the reply, unfortunately you've confirmed my suspicions. We could do multilevel with an accessible bedroom/bathroom on the first floor, but we'd want most of the living space downstairs so our daughter is not excluded from family life. Do you mind if I ask where in DC you live?

We were really happy with early intervention and HSCSN when we lived in DC before, though I have heard the transition from EI into the school system is not good. However, we were hoping to send our daughter to St. Coletta,which would get around that problem? I can't imagine what a mainstream school would do with her.

I'm concerned about Medicaid availability in VA and MD, too - aren't there wait lists? I may have heard wrong on that.

[Anonymous]

I don't know a lot about Medicaid. My understanding is that waitlists are organized by categories, and you'd need to find out about waitlists for her specific category.

I can tell you, as a special educator, who has had opportunities to visit and coordinate with many of the schools in the area, that both Montgomery County and Fairfax County (and possibly several other counties, I just only have experience with MCPS and FCPS) have better options that St. Coletta's. MCPS and FCPS both have well established programs with various models, ranging from self contained schools, to special classes within public schools, to partial and full inclusion schedules where some or all services are delivered in the general ed classroom. St. C's has no such array of options. In addition, St. C's is chaotic with a very high staff turnover. It also doesn't follow best practices for literacy instruction. In addition, St. C's has a wait list and admits by lottery. It's quite possible that you would have a gap in time between when you move and your daughter is admitted.

Good luck, and welcome to DC! I hope you find exactly the situation that works for you and your daughter.

[Anonymous]

5:52 here. I live in Montgomery County.

[Anonymous]

Thank you, this is all very helpful!

[Anonymous]

OP, can you tell us a little more, as that might help us make suggestions. I'd love to know:

1) How old is your daughter (preschool, elementary, middle, or high school?)

2) What is your approximate housing budget?

3) Are you commuting in a certain direction?

4) Are there other housing needs (e.g. not a condo because you have pets that need to go out a lot, or X number of bedrooms because you have Y number of other kids)

[Anonymous]

School Within a School is a public school in DC that has two classrooms for medically complex students. I would schedule a tour there. The principal is great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:School Within a School is a public school in DC that has two classrooms for medically complex students. I would schedule a tour there. The principal is great.

DCPS has historically not had a strong Assistive Technology program, and has had difficulty consistently staffing their PT and OT positions. Given how crucial PT, OT, and AT are for kids like the OP's, I'd want to be very sure those issues aren't impacting SWS before I chose it for my child. Do you know whether or not staffing issues exist at SWS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:School Within a School is a public school in DC that has two classrooms for medically complex students. I would schedule a tour there. The principal is great.

Capitol Hill would be an extremely tough place to live for OP. Townhouses are narrow with small doorways and renovating is a nightmare.

[Anonymous]

Your best bet if you want to live in DC would be to buy and gut renovate a house. It's possible to make even a rowhouse ADA compliant and put in an elevator that services every floor for ~ 35k. We looked into doing this with our architect.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Someone on the mc needs yahoo group posted a house they renovated for their son in a wheelchair. On my phone so I can't link, but it was a recent post.

[Anonymous]

^tje house was for sale.

[Anonymous]

If you decide to live in DC, you can get a special parking designation in front of your house so only you can park your car there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:5:52 here. I live in Montgomery County.

Me again, and I want to recommend MoCo also for other services -- PT, dance, and pools. How old is your daughter?