Useful
What I learned first hand, all in one place. The things I wish someone had told me in time.
Details change, companies close down, prices go up. Always call and check before you set off. If you find something here that no longer holds, tell me and I will fix it.
Transport
Adapted vehicles, taxis that take a wheelchair, medical transport.
What to ask when you call a taxi
- How wide the doors are and how big the boot is. A folding wheelchair fits almost anywhere, a powered one almost nowhere.
- Whether the vehicle has a ramp or a lift, or someone is expected to carry you.
- Whether the driver helps you in and out, and whether that costs extra.
- Ask for a bigger vehicle when you book, not when it pulls up outside your building.
- Ask the price up front, because adapted transport is often charged differently.
The list is only starting to fill up. If you know a driver who really does take a wheelchair, send me the city, the name, a phone number and one sentence about how it went. That is enough for me to check it and add it.
Personal assistance and home care
What you can actually get, not what ought to exist.
Personal assistance does exist here, but mostly as a project, not as a right. Some associations provide it, and some local communities have something that goes by that name. Whether you get it, and how much of it, depends on where you live and on whether anyone happens to have money for it right now. And that is a long way from what personal assistance is meant to be: you decide who helps you, when and how, and you have a right to it, not just luck.
A difference worth knowing
- Personal assistance means you decide what gets done and when. An assistant is your hands, not your guardian.
- Home care is medical and hygiene help, within a scope and a number of hours set in advance.
- In practice what is on offer looks more like care than assistance, so ask exactly what you get: how many hours, who decides on the tasks, and what is excluded.
- Ask how long the service runs, too, because projects tend to stop when the money runs out.
This part is only starting to fill up. If you use assistance or home care, tell me who provides it, in which city, how many hours you get and whether they stuck to the agreement. You do not have to give your name if you would rather not.
Health
Clinics with an accessible entrance, doctors who come to your home, blood tests done where you live.
What to check before you book
- An entrance at street level or a ramp, and how steep it is if there is one.
- A lift, and whether a wheelchair actually fits in it, not just that a lift exists.
- A toilet, because an appointment can drag on.
- The examination table, whether it lowers or you are expected to climb up on your own.
The list is only starting to fill up. If you have found a clinic you can actually get into, send me the city, the name and how it went: entrance, lift, toilet, examination table. A photo of the entrance is worth half the story.
Equipment: buying, repairs and short term rental
Where to buy, who repairs, and who rents out short term. That last one saves you when you are travelling or waiting on a repair.
When you need equipment only for a short while
- Renting is possible, for wheelchairs, walkers, commode chairs and hospital beds. Hardly anyone knows about it.
- Use it when your wheelchair breaks down, when a disabled guest is coming to stay, or after surgery.
- Ask the price per day and per week, because they can differ a lot.
- Ask whether they deliver and collect, because moving equipment can cost as much as the rental.
- Check what happens if it breaks while you have it.
The list is only starting to fill up. If you know a company that services or rents equipment well, send me the name, the city, a phone number and how they behaved when something went wrong.
Accessible accommodation
I am not writing this one from scratch, I point you to my own reviews from „I Tested It So You Don’t Have To”.
Your place not on the list? Send me the name, the city and what was accessible and what was not: entrance, room, bathroom, getting into the pool or the sea. Photos are worth their weight in gold.
Know something that is missing here?
I cannot get everywhere and I cannot check everything myself. If you know a driver, a clinic, a repair shop or a place that really is accessible, tell me and it goes on the list.