Sally McNeill Case Study
Sally is a full-time wheelchair user with cerebral palsy. She lives with her mum, dad, and grandmother. She can weight bare but not stand.
Sally plays wheelchair football for a club called ASPIRE, which is a mixed group of varying ages, and she has been playing since she was 12 years of age. The team have won several trophies including last summer the European club championships in Paris. Sally really enjoys sport and has a GCSE in Art and PE, which led her to take a teaching qualification to help children with special needs integrate into the local community from young ages. She has also enjoyed taking part in riding for disabled (RDA).
The family bungalow was purchased in 2021 and the family moved in during 2024, due to the time for the court case; plus, relocation along with the Architect/planning stage, product research and selection, and installation.
Sally’s Occupational Therapist recommended Adam Thomas, expert in accessible kitchen design; to work closely with Sally and her family to design a kitchen tailored to their requirements. Adam also recommended a nearby Freedom by Symphony kitchen retailer Tara Neil Limited; to assist with the cabinetry choices, appliances, accessories, and worktop selection.
The family chose Urban Indigo and Pebble; the indigo colour was selected for the base cabinets and tall units in pebble for a contrasting finish. Sally also helped with other choices for their new family home such as App Control systems to operate lighting, doors and window blinds.
Sally has a full-time personal assistant / carer to help her with everyday tasks around the home, although Sally is able to use some accessible features such as the kitchen area:
Freedom Specific features:
Freedom Adjustable Height Straight Run Worktop
A superb feature incorporating breakfast bar seating allowing Sally, the family, and her carer to socialise during meal preparation. The adjustable height worktop creates a fully accessible area for Sally to cook and houses the hob and reduced depth sink area, whilst also providing plenty of preparation space.
Freedom Accessible Reduced Depth Sink & Tap
A great addition for Sally, allowing comfortable seated access beneath the sinks, thanks to the reduced depth base. The front mounted tap also allows sally to control the water supply using the lever as Sally only has use of her left hand.
NEFF Slide & Hide Oven & Freedom Oven Housings with Heatproof Shelves
The slide and hide oven is positioned at a 90-degree angle to the worktop; creating a safe environment for Sally to take dishes in and out of the oven. Sally benefits from the heatproof shelf located below the oven, within the oven housings; as it provides an immediate safe resting place to transfer dishes to and from the oven and onto the worktop / induction hob area.
Freedom iMove Pull Down Baskets / Pull Out Drawers within Larder Units provide Improved Access
The imove pull down baskets mechanism is fitted inside the cupboard and can be accessed via the extended handle, allowing sally to be independent in her kitchen area so she can access things higher up within larder cabinets more easily.