How could my high school age granddaughter get her new wheelchair up the stairs once the school bus drops her off?

If the building isn’t wheelchair accessible, I would really worry about your granddaughter’s safety.

This is an electric wheelchair? I only ask because they are quite heavy. The 2 big questions for me are the amount of time required to obtain the ground floor apartment, and whether or not your grandaughter’s wheelchair requirement is now a permanent fact. If she requires the chair for use within her apartment, I think she is better off with a manual foldup chair at home and a street ready combat model electric chair secured somewhere on the ground floor.

Does the place not have an elevator? I thought it was a law that all public buildings had to be handicap accessible.

Also…how does she get up the stairs to get in the school bus?

Another relevant piece of information would be, how often does she need to come in and out. If she could wait for volunteer helpers, and be open schedule wise.

I suppose it would depend on why she is handicapped too. When I had my ACL surgery, I was pretty immobile for about 6 months, and I lived on a second floor. I spent many painful minutes negotiating the stairs on my butt, then crutches, then limping….

Have you called social services?

@MrGrimm888 “Highschool
age granddaughter” is a clue on the frequency of required trips.

Right. At least twice a day. Maybe the school can help out, too.

The Americans with Disabilities Act requires that she be able to access her school with her wheelchair. There has to be a ramp or elevator or the school is not in compliance.

@snowberry come talk to us!

I assumed the school is in compliance. I was wondering about the bus, or does she use a handicap bus? And why wouldn’t the apartment building have to be in compliance too?

@Dutchess_III “And why wouldn’t the apartment building have to be in compliance too?”

I am not a lawyer, but I don’t think the ADA requires all landlords to do major remodeling just because a tenant has become disabled. The standard, as I understand it, is “reasonable accommodations.”

That’s a pretty fair approach IMO. If you think of it from the landlord’s perspective, let’s say you buy a $200k 2-story rental property to rent out and all of a sudden your tenant becomes disabled and now you have to put in a $100k+ elevator and ongoing maintenance and service costs. It would be financially devastating and would probably bankrupt many otherwise responsible landlords.

I do believe you can get out of your lease without penalty if there is no ADA compliant alternative available.

There are limits to the retrofitting required on structures erected prior to passage of the ADA. Landlords can be required to install wheelchair accsessible sidewalks, ramps and doors, but are usually exempt from rennovations requiring deep structural alterations such as elevators.

Sorry guys I didn’t plan to dump the question on you and leave you, but I had to go out.

The high school has been very accommodating and she will be on the disabled bus with a lift for the wheelchair.

The wheelchair is not motorized and she can push herself around. Her mom thought because she is so social (loves to talk to people) maybe she can get somebody to help her by carrying it up the stairs for her…

There is no elevator. That’s why they are trying to get into a ground floor apartment (I asked about legal stuff in my previous question).

Does she have any friends she can stay with for a while?

I think that would be a great idea, but it doesn’t hurt to have all your suggestions as well. Her mom is encouraging her to try to solve the problem on her own.

Well…she could go live at a rehab place for a while…AKA a nursing home. Bet she’d be motivated to solve her problem then!

The folding wheelchairs are usually abundant, and Berkeley in past decades was THE place to find free or very cheap refurbished chairs. Again, I think a chair for the apartment and a separate chair for excursions would be the best solution, and grant her greatest independence.

WTH??!!!??!?!
She is in high school Dutch. Are you honestly suggesting she be punished for becoming disabled?
Are you on freakin drugs?

Two wheelchairs does not get her up and down two flights of stairs. She needs a way up and down two flights of stairs AT HOME until family can be moved to ground floor apartment.

Snow, it sounds like a pickle.

Calm down @Patty_Melt. Nursing homes are designed to help with the disabled and those in rehabilitation. I wouldn’t think it would be any fun, but it’s just a thought.

A nursing home! That sounds like a sucky life for an otherwise healthy teen! Haha! Insurance wouldn’t pay for that, and I can’t think of anybody who would.

They have thought of two wheelchairs… One for home and one for school, but there’s no money for that. And once they get into the ground floor apartment they won’t need the second one.

Yeah it would be! But she’d be safe. So does she actually have to physically climb the stairs? Is that safe for her? Does she need someone there so she doesn’t fall?

(My son pulled a couple of wheel chairs out of a dumpster behind a medical supply store when he was a young teenager. They had more fun that summer with those damn things!)

Got it @Dutchess_III. I will mention it to her mom, but I doubt there’s money to pay for that.

Based on a link that @gorillapaws gave me, they need a letter from the doctor and the apartment complex has to tell them how much advance notice they need to give. That length of time may vary from state to state or maybe from county to county… i’m not sure.

Her mom is very nervous about freaking them out and making them think they are threatening a lawsuit, but the law is the law. If they were to refuse to allow them to break the lease and she hurt herself on the stairs before the lease was over, they’d be in deep Doo Doo.

And @Dutchess_III, we’d love to get our hands on a free wheelchair just for the length of time that they are in the upstairs apartment, but I’ve never seen one. The last time I checked it cost a lot of money to rent one.

I fully understand your mother’s concern, and I think it’s a valid one.
I really think someone should call Social Services, see what they suggest. I mean, that’s what they’re there for. They may even be able to get a different, ground floor apartment and perhaps subsidize the rent (depending on the household income.) Surely they can come up with a wheelchair. There are a lot of agencies out there just for these kinds of situations.

My son just got lucky that day. Free wheelchairs!

@snowberry… have you asked FB for a wheel chair?

Silver Cross charity has a list of mobility services that might be covered by donations.

One trip up the stairs (even 3 flights) & 1 trip down daily on crutches is achievable for a teenager in reasonably good shape & I speak from experience in my late 20s. The really tough thing about crutches is adjusting to losing the use of your hands and arms for carrying. I spent an awful lot of time hopping around on one leg.

There are a bunch of organizations dedicated to providing free wheelchairs. Go online. But I’m curious as to whether or not this girl is permanently disabled.

My wheelchair was provided by the VA. At the time, they didn’t know if it would be temporary or permanent. They made a point of telling me that it is mine, and if I stopped needing it, I could sell it or donate it whatever.
I’m thinking if they advertise they can get one cheap or free.

I don’t get it. I missed something. Is someone carrying her up the stairs? Or, she just needs someone to lean on and she has some use of her legs?

I would say just pay someone $5 to help her up the stairs. Is there another female teenager in the building who can help? Or, a female adult who is home? Sorry, I’m paranoid, and prefer a female.

The big problem is, if she gets up to the apartment she’s trapped if something goes wrong, but I guess most people in wheelchairs have that problem in cases of fire and other emergencies.

I don’t see how the law can ask a 3 story walk up building to comply somehow with ADA for upper floors. They can’t be forced to add an elevator.

There have been times when people have had to carry her up the stairs. Sometimes she has the use of her legs and sometimes she doesn’t.

Her mother broke the lease and they will move in in six weeks. They did not charge her for breaking the lease, which is a blessing.

I will start looking for people willing to help. Thanks everyone!

^Good luck.

Peace n love.

Oh, that’s great that she was able to break the lease. What a relief for them.

Call the school and they’ll tell you.

I agree. You just gotta start calling around. Just call and ask for help.

@snowberry Best wishes to your family.

Craigslist, I bet.

Simple solution to same problem in our complex with a lady that had a walker and electric wheelchair.
The management suggested to transfer to the ground floor apartment by asking the present tenants ‘if” they would like to transfer to another floor. In our case they did take the offer but both had to pay the $150 transfer fee. Presently both tenants are pleased.

The big question is how long will it take to find a ground floor apartment?

In either case, however, I believe it unethical to get someone to carry the wheelchair up as if she’s in high school and is a social person then I expect she’ll be making frequent to and from the apartment. Probably several a day.

For a prolonged period of time spent in the upstairs apartment, I recommend looking into a stair-climbing wheelchair such as this one:
https://scewo.ch/?lang=en
Here is a video of one being used:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lb_8nmy90c

I don’t know the cost, I’m guessing it’s pricey but it’s either this or I can’t see them being able to remain in that apartment.

Thanks so much for all the suggestions.

Her mother just broke the lease, and because they were so close to the end of it they are not giving her a penalty. Good for them! The problem is now that there is a six week wait until they can get into the new place on the ground floor.

That means the kid still has to navigate three flights of stairs at least twice a day. This is not a good scenario. I am now searching for a temporary and inexpensive second wheelchair for the upstairs apartment, and the other one can stay aat t school.

I’m going to ask my facebook about a wheel chair, see if I get any hits. It’s just for practice. It wouldn’t do you any good.

@snowberry . May I ask where they need the wheelchair? Nothing really specific, but maybe a region? Do you, or anyone closely related to her have a relationship with the military?

So. I talked to my Mom. She was a social worker, for 35 years. She said, if you’re in the US, DSS could be a great resource for lots of things, if the girl is under 18. Different states, would offer different services, but could at least give you ideas of whomever else you may need to contact, just in case there are other needs…

I’ll pm you @MrGrimm888

How did she get her old wheelchair in there??

The wheel chair is a recent development. She hasn’t always been in a wheel chair.

We scraped up the money and I called her mom and told her that I was ready to rent a wheelchair for the apartment so they can leave one wheelchair at school and the other one at home, and they won’t have to try to figure out how to lug one up or down the stairs every time she goes in or out.

Her mom turned me down, so I’m going to forget it. The situation sure sounded pretty dire to me (and it is), but she’s just not interested.

Wow. Just…wow @snowberry. That’s F’d up. I’m sorry.

See, Dutch? Everyone seems to have has one or more “perfect jewels” in their life! This daughter runs hot and cold on me. There are times she won’t speak to me, and others she will.

All I can do is be there when she hits bottom. In the meantime, I’m going to live my best life (and because I’m a Christian, I’m going to pray for them).

^Sounds like you did everything you could. Sometimes, that’s all we have.

I have one of those too! I know how helpless it feels. I don’t know about you, but half the time I’m not even sure why she’s mad at me.

I learned a few years ago, that I can take some solice, in knowing that I did everything I could in a relationship with another human being.

So, at this point she takes a wheel chair to the bus, she can get on the bus by herself, the bus drops her off, then she manages 3 flights of stairs, by herself, to her wheel chair waiting on the 3rd floor of the building. Is that right?

Actually I think she’s probably walking right now, but I haven’t been told.

That just sucks and it makes me really mad because I’m kind of in the same damn situation and I would like it if other people go mad for me and with me so we can just be mad together @snowberry.