You may recall that for the longest time, Namine has used a sink on the floor outside the bathroom. It was built using a small table, a water dispenser, and a small tub to catch the water. This enabled Namine to wash up by herself, allowing her to be more independent.
With Namine’s school consisting of her attending live classes on the computer, she stays in her wheelchair more during the day. She found it easier to simply stand up at the bathroom sink, instead of climbing down to use her sink and then climbing back up.
It had been weeks since she’d used her sink outside the bathroom, so we asked her if she minded us getting rid of it. She said no, go ahead, I’m not really using it anymore. And that, as they say, was that.
The entire goal of parenting is independence. For the parent of a disabled child, the timeline may be longer, but the desired end result is the same. Living in an apartment restricts some of the things we can do to improve accessibility, but we do what we can. We’ve always encouraged Namine to be as independent as she can — on her own timeline. We’re proud (and a little sad) that she has reached this independence milestone.
Leave a Reply