New Kitchen Appliances

We had a small leak under the house that managed to spray a thin stream of water upward in just the right spot to soak a section of subfloor and buckle the overlying hardwood floor in our kitchen. This led to our kitchen floor being replaced, which meant that all the cabinets and appliances had to come out of the kitchen. That would have been bad enough, but since the majority of the bottom floor in our house is hardwood, nearly everything had to be moved out, including us, when they sanded and restained/finished all the hardwood for a nice uniform repair. The silver lining is, we got to make some changes to the kitchen, including improving accessibility. Among other things, these changes involved replacing our aging appliances and for the first time in our lives, we found ourselves researching and considering handicapped friendly appliance options.

Didn’t know there were such things? Don’t be ashamed. Until a month ago, neither did I. Many countries have laws and/or guidelines in place for something to be labled accessible. In the US, it’s the Americans With Disabilities Act, or ADA and apparently there are criteria that make appliances ADA compliant. Most of the criteria are things that I hadn’t considered and found myself saying things like, “Wow, that makes sense.” and, “Hmm, I never would have thought about that.” over and over when I looked up ADA compliant appliances.

I won’t try to copy verbatim the handicapped criteria or endorse any particular brand, since I’m too new at this to really have a valid opinion, but I will provide a link to the website that I found most useful when looking for what exactly makes an appliance handicapped accessible/ADA compliant.

(Full disclosure, none of my new appliances are this particular brand, but their site does a really good job explaining the criteria .)

https://www.geappliances.com/ge/ada-compliant/

I use a wheelchair full time and have significant arm and hand weakness. I’ve learned two things so far that are specific to my situation that I’ll pass on to anyone in a similar one. First, use the seatbelt, etc if your chair has one. An accessible oven/range minimizes any reaching you have to do, but there is still some bending and extending involved and being secured to your chair is super helpful, especially if you have balance issues. No, I haven’t fallen into the oven or burned myself yet and I don’t intend to either.

Second, consider your angles. My wheelchair elevates, so I can rise to the height needed so I don’t have to reach overhead and risk dropping things on myself. That may not be an option for you, but consider which angle you approach the stove, refrigerator, etc. For example, my strong side is my left, so I tend to angle that side into the appliance, rather than approach it head on, or from the right. There’s a little trial and error to get this right for the individual appliance or task.

I have always liked being in the kitchen, cooking and especially baking and, in all modesty, I was pretty good at it before multiple sclerosis started taking my abilities. I know my limitations and I grudgingly accept them, I guess, but that doesn’t mean I like them, or that I’m not constantly looking for ways around them. It’s nice that there are appliance options that make it easier to get around some of these limitations.