Welcome to Whiteley &
Whiteley’s new blog. Who – or what – is
Whiteley & Whiteley? We are a home
design firm that specializes in designs for special needs children and
adults. I am David Whiteley, the
principal designer and I will be writing this blog with my wife, Diane, our
creative consultant.
Our passion for special needs
design began when my brother, Bill, slipped on the ice and broke his hip. Although he lived in an expensive home in an
exclusive neighborhood, he was unable to access the bathrooms with a
wheelchair, because the doors were too narrow.
When I found out about his dilemma, I decided that all of my future home
designs would be wheelchair adaptable; the hallways and doors would be wide
enough to accommodate a wheelchair, and at least one bathroom would be
accessible. Then, a few years ago, I met
a woman with a special needs child who explained the difficulties in finding an
architect or designer who understood the nuances of designing for special
needs. Most are familiar with ADA, but
special needs represent a much wider spectrum. I decided to learn as much as
possible about designing fully functional homes for special needs. To that end, I became a Certified Aging in
Place Specialist (CAPS), attended special needs trade shows and participated in
projects to design and build homes for special needs children and adults.
I am ready to begin sharing
my knowledge, but more importantly, I hope that you will share yours. I would like this to be an interactive blog
where parents and children can discuss the challenges of designing a home for
the special needs community. I include
“children” because I have found that special needs home design includes
creating spaces for our aging parents, commonly referred to as mother-in-law
suites.
I have a list of topics that
I will cover, such as designing the most functional bathroom vanity or the
different types of doors and their applications; however, we will also let the
blog follow the thread of thoughts from the readers. Enjoy.
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