Smart homes are game-changers for people with disabilities

 

Chris Levi and his nieces Hannah and Ava.Brian Zak

Financial adviser and retired Army Cpl. Chris Levi finally has a home that he’s truly comfortable in.
In early July, the 35-year-old — who lost both of his legs and sustained damage to his right hand following an explosion in Iraq in 2008 — moved into a 2,800-square-foot, single-story, three-bedroom house in Melville, NY, that’s equipped with a number of hi-tech features designed for his limited mobility. It’s a big upgrade from his previous split-level Long Island home, where performing everyday tasks was difficult and made him feel isolated.

‘These little subtleties give [Levi] back that independence he hasn’t had in many years’

“I still feel like I’m in the honeymoon phase,” says Levi of his new home, which he shares with his 2- and 4-year-old nieces, Ava and Hannah, and his mother, Debra. Levi happily describes his new pad’s features, which include remote-controlled blinds, a toilet whose lid automatically lifts when he approaches and a stovetop that automatically lowers to a seated level, allowing him to safely cook.“If you’re in a wheelchair and you want to use the front burners safely, you need to be able to reach them,” says Levi, who uses both a wheelchair and prosthetic legs.
Smart-home technology, typically regarded as a bonus in pricey luxury homes, is increasingly being employed by people with physical disabilities who want to navigate their homes with greater ease.
“These little subtleties give [Levi] back that independence he hasn’t had in many years,” says Frank Siller, CEO of the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation, a nonprofit that, along with the Home Depot Foundation, financed Levi’s home.
That’s a sentiment that’s echoed by Dutchess County resident Stephen Valyou, 42, who’s lived in a Stephen Siller foundation-built smart home since 2016.

Chris Levi’s stove automatically lowers for him.Brian Zak

“Overall, it’s had a huge impact with independence,” says Valyou, an Army veteran who was left paralyzed from the belly button down after being shot by a sniper in Iraq in 2007.
The 2,856-square-foot home that Valyou shares with his 13-year-old son, Nathaniel, and 5-year-old daughter, Ashlynn, has doors that swing open automatically so he can pass through easily in his wheelchair. If he’s in bed and forgot to turn off the lights in another room, he can do so from his phone without getting back in his wheelchair. He also has security cameras that let him see, though his phone, who’s pulling into the driveway before he can get to the door.
“[Before, I’d] sit there and struggle before [asking for help] … Now there’s not much that I can really come up with that I have to ask for,” he says.
Not all newly constructed smart homes for the disabled come from charity initiatives. Roosevelt Island resident Torsten Gross, 39, is financing his smart home himself — but the payoff is just as great.
“[Having the technology] means that how I use the space doesn’t have to be different than the way anyone else would,” says Gross, who’s constructing a tech-heavy home in Sharon, Conn., that he and wife Maggie, 33, will use as a second house.
Gross, who works in advertising in Manhattan, has been paralyzed from the chest down, with some use of his fingers, since age 15 — when he broke his neck during a shallow-water dive while on vacation in the Bahamas.
In his new home, he will be able to adjust the lights and shades with just his voice or an app on his phone. Even better, the doors will automatically lock whenever he leaves and unlock when he arrives, great because Gross has difficulty grabbing door handles.

Torsten Gross outside the new home he’s building in ConnecticutCourtesy of Torsten Gross

“This equalizes it for me,” says Gross.
Dolf Radeljic, a now-retired construction worker who was left paralyzed from the navel down after falling 10 feet into an elevator shaft at a Manhattan job site, will likely spend $50,000 to $100,000 of his own money to retrofit his 4,500-square-foot Rockland County residence.
In the coming months, Radeljic — with the help of local chain Total Home Technologies — plans to install an advanced Control4 automation system (parts from $600) at his home, which he shares with his wife, Donna. Instead of reaching several feet from his wheelchair to adjust the air conditioning, he’ll be able to control the temperature with his voice — or with a phone, remotes and wall keypads. Same goes for raising and lowering the blinds — a task made difficult by his wheelchair not being able to fit into the tight crannies where the drawstrings hang.
“It gives me a lot more independence — just the fact that I would be able to control a lot of the things that my wife usually does for me,” he says.
Even without a huge budget, it’s possible to make big improvements.
Bronx resident Jose Hernandez, a 37-year-old quadriplegic left paralyzed at age 15 after diving into shallow water, says it only cost him $250 initially to get his smart features —including an Amazon Echo ($99.99), which he’s customized to let him control his air conditioner, his television and make phone calls hands-free, and a Phillips hue kit (starting at $34.99) for lighting control.

 

 

 

“It adds a level of safety that I didn’t have before,” says Hernandez, a program specialist for the United Spinal Association.
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