Although I've studied Universal Design as it involves mobility
disabilities..... I suddenly find myself with a request, from an old
acquaintance, to try  my hand at DESIGN FOR A COGNITIVE DISABILITY.   

This will be a 'gratis' project, done for an old high school friend who
I have re-encountered after 30 years, through the coincidence that we've
both by now acquired (very different) disabilities, and re-met on the
Internet.  

Project is design for interior of newly acquired "Independent"
apartment.
He has had brain surgery, removing part of Right Brain.  (In men
right-brain is specialised to 3-Dimensional visualisation /
comprehension).

Resulting impairments:

1. -- Reduced 3-D visualisation.
2. -- Difficulty organising & finding objects in home.
3. -- Needs "reminders" to do things.  Says "Some things do not just
'occur' to me."
4. -- Sometimes needs reminders to complete tasks.... to do the last
step.
5. -- Sometimes loses track of day of week.  (Don't we all?)

After his operation (made necessary by an infection), and a year of
living in the hospital for Rehab,  he returned to his familiar
brownstone home in New York, and the familiarity of that space helped
him re-adjust to independent living.  Also he modified a few things to
work for him.  Unfortunately, due to a breakup, he lost that home....
and moved to the west coast to temporarily live with family.  He has
recently moved to a NEW independent 2-bedroom apartment.  

I am NOW trying to prepare myself (in terms of design ideas, specific
resources, catalogs, etc.) for a possible visit in a month's time.... to
see my old friend, partly also to see this new apartment, and to help
him design / organise it.... in relation to his new disability.

IF ANY LIST MEMBERS CAN THINK OF ANY IDEAS, TO ADD TO THE LIST BELOW....
PLEASE "post" them, and / or contact me, directly.  Thank you.

1.  --  Big CHALK BOARD,  painted with grid for organising "To Do"
list.... for each of 7 days.  
(I'm avoiding the "marker board" version of this, because of
brain-health concerns re: inhaling the markers' fumes -- people have
actually become addicted to them, causing brain damage).

2.  --  "DAY OF WEEK SHELF/ CABINET" (inspired by those cheap plastic
7-Day Pill Containers, that organise what pills to take each day, and
make it really easy to survey the whole week.)  This cabinet / shelf /
whatever, would organise objects to take with him on planned days, later
in the week.  For example, books to take to an every-Saturday "Readers'
Group" he attends at a local bookstore.  This item might be coordinated
or integrated with Item #1 above, the Weekly Calendar Board.  

3.  --  Completion of tasks problem.  Example:  

He sometimes turns on water and forgets to turn it off.  Looking for
Spring-Loaded faucet controls, suitable for HOME kitchen or bathroom..

Should be "easy to use", (not like some of those public-toilet ones that
are a huge nuisance.)  Alternative would be faucet control that TIMES
ITSELF  and then turns itself off.   So he doesn't have to constantly
keep one hand on the control, to get water.   DOES ANY COMPANY MAKE SUCH
A "self-timed" WATER CONTROL?

(I know, an alternative to that would be the infra-red controlled type.)

4.  --  "Finding Things" problem:

He's already labelling drawers to remind himself of what's supposed to
go in them.  He generally prefers to have all objects "out in plain
sight", to avoid lengthy searches.   (Like -- preferring open shelving,
instead of cabinets with doors.  "Color-coding" also comes to mind...
especially if it doesn't appear to "take over the whole house", which he
might be self-conscious about, in terms of it making him "look stupid",
which is a concern, now that his speech is slower.) 
  
ANY IDEAS ? on how to keep this EASY-FINDABILITY--OPEN DISPLAY type of
design, from getting totally "Cluttered" - looking?  
        
2 design approaches for that, have occurred to me, so far:  
At least in Living Room where clutter might be a problem if constantly
"on display" & where "appearances / image counts"...   
Enable him to sometimes "hide the clutter" on a wall of open shelves,
by the lighting design... create the ability to turn off the lights
illuminating that wall of shelves... (requires -- eliminating whole-room
lighting that would "spill over", in favor of al lighting specific to
one-or-the-other: the "cluttered" or the "other" parts of the Living
Room.   Second option: the way people often screen off an efficiency
kitchen in a studio ("bed-sit"?) apartment---- a big Roll-Up Shade of
something like reeds or bamboo? 

3rd option that comes to mind--- wall unit with sliding glass doors?
Sometimes glass has such a glare to it, that it sort of "conceals
things" a bit, from a distance.... but if you get close, you can still
find anything.  Or the glass could have some sort of very intermittent
pattern etched or painted on it.... leaving 95% of the glass clear...
like widely spaced dots or lines, which would similarly not exactly
"screen it all off" but at least make a more "uniform uncluttered
appearance" at a distance...(say, if visitors are sitting on the Living
Room sofa) . but keep it still possible to see everything, without
sliding open the glass doors, when standing close.  (On second thought,
I think I'd go with acrylic or "Lexan" sliding doors, to avoid breakage.
He would have a very hard time dealing with any broken glass on the
floor.) 

5. --  The "Things do not 'occur' to me" problem.  He may need a few
permanent, neatly lettered signs around the house, of every-day "To Do
Lists".  Things like "Take out the garbage".  

He states that, for example, he sometimes "forgets to eat".   That the
hunger pain does not necessarily connect to thinking "I haven't eaten
lunch."

First thoughts occurring to me:  
Timer-controlled lights, aimed at things that will remind him of what
must be done... 

...perhaps something along the lines or... turning-on the kitchen light,
or a spotlight on the refrigerator... for an hour at each meal-time?
He drinks coffee to "get his mind going" in the morning-- so a
coffee-maker with t timer that automatically starts it, every morning?
(But he also has to remember to put i the water & coffee, the night
before.)

He was a university math teacher, is still very intelligent, and is very
interested in his computer.  (He has no difficulty doing things like
e-mail, web surfing, or gathering music to make custom Compact DIscs.)
Therefor, I was thinking of the light-timers being selected as --  the
more fancy versions of the commonly-available "X-10" timers, which
integrate with the computer.  (like the "IBM Home Director X-10 Kit", or
"SmartLinc Lighting Control Kit" that displays it's whole set-up on it's
own touch-screen) or similar high-tech system, sold in mail order
catalogs like "Smarthome-dot-com")    
Then, for example, he could SEE a complete LIST of how many timers he
has in the house, what each is for, and how each it set.  If available,
perhaps a non-timer type of X-10 device could be light-sensitive, to
control opening and closing drapes, and that would also appear
on-screen, on the List. 

Another possibility is the Microsoft hand-held remote controller just
introduced (the first hardware company to make it, is Harmon Kardon)
which can control Lighting or anything else in the house (in addition to
the usual audio-video equipment).  This is an open-ended system that as
a computer affectionado, he might really "get into".... after my visit
ends, he might over the years find more and more things to control with
it... all unified into one system, displayed "In Summary" on one screen,
the whole "smart house" business which may seem a complicated luxury to
most people, but which might be "just the ticket" for him.

Also having all these "X-10" timer devices displayed on the computer
screen, would make it easy for any friends or Personal Care Attendant
(he doesn't have one, yet) to easily see an overview, of what-all he has
set up, to control what.

Perhaps it could even control opening the bedroom drapes in the morning,
and closing them at dusk....        
________________________________

Are there any BOOKS / etc. on designing residential environments for
people with this kind of brain impairment?  Any good EXAMPLES ?  of what
other people have done?  

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated ! ! !

Jim Davis



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