Children with disabilities

You can expect to be working with your Occupational Therapist (OT) for the next few years as your child develops and their long term needs become clearer. At this stage you may not know how your child will develop and whether any special considerations may need to be given in relation to their housing needs. Together with the help and advice of your child's OT, who is experienced in such matters, you may wish to start thinking about the options for your home in the future.

The information on this page is designed to help you start thinking about ideas now, so that you can start planning for the long-term future in your home.

It may be that your current home is not going to be suitable for your child's long term needs even with adaptation. This is something you need to think about as it may need to be considered before the situation becomes critical. Your child's OT will be able to discuss this with you in relation to your child's future predicted needs.

Your occupational therapist will be happy to discuss with you the options that might be possible in your home, both now and in the future. They can also advise you on what you need to look for if you decide to move house.

• Is it possible that your child will be in a wheelchair?  
• Is your house large enough for your child to manoeuvre about in a wheelchair?
• Is your bathroom large enough to accommodate a wheelchair?
• Is the hall way wide enough for a wheelchair?
• Will your child be able to get upstairs?
• Will your child be able to use a stair lift?
• What is the access like to your home? Is it steep?
• Can a wheelchair manoeuvre upstairs?
• Can a wheelchair access the kitchen?
• Is there room to extend?
• Has the property been adapted or extended in the past? This may affect the type and extent of any future works that can be carried out to the property
• Is planning likely to be a problem?

Not all houses are suitable for adaptation. The scope for adaptation is also limited by the size of the mandatory grant. The current maximum available is £30,000 and is usually adequate to fund most adaptations. However, if extending your home is the only way to meet your child's assessed needs then additional funding may be required.  

Your occupational therapist will be happy to discuss with you the options that might be possible in your home, both now and in the future. They can also advise you on what you need to look for if you decide to move house.

If you rent your property, your occupational therapist may be able to help you with your application for re-housing and registering with Homes4Wiltshire, the Choice-Based Lettings system. They would advise on your child's present and future predicted functional needs and how this relates to the type of property that would be suitable for your family; they would also be able to write a supportive report. This would be helpful in any bid you make for a property through the Choice Based Letting scheme. If the housing department is aware of your family's long term needs for adapted properties they can try and influence the housing associations' new build programme to accommodate this.

If you or someone living in your property is permanently disabled you may qualify for a disabled facilities grant towards the cost of providing adaptations and facilities to enable the disabled person to continue to live there. Such grants are given by the council under Part I of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 and are means tested except in the case of adaptations for children. If you are interested in adaptations for a disabled child then please also refer to the children with disabilities information.

Before making an application you will normally have received an occupational therapist assessment to confirm the work will meet your needs and is necessary and appropriate. For some medical conditions the occupational therapist will need to seek advice from the disabled person's consultant.

If you don't already have an Occupational Therapist you can contact the OT social helpdesk by calling 0300 456 0111 or by emailing adviceandcontact@wiltshire.gov.uk .