A family in Ontario is highlighting the urgent need for accessible housing in Canada. Five-year-old Beau, diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy, faces daily challenges navigating his non-accessible home. His story resonates with Tracy Odell, who experienced similar difficulties growing up.
Five-year-old Beau starts each day being carried by one of his parents to the family’s living room, where his wheelchair awaits in their Beamsville, Ont., home. Diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy at 17 months old, Beau is unable to walk independently due to the disease, which damages nerves and leads to severe muscle weakness. Beau’s day-to-day living comes with barriers most would never think about when raising a child, said his mother, Rachel O’Hagan.
The doorways in their home aren’t wide enough for a wheelchair to fit through, meaning Beau has to be carried from room to room, including the bathroom. He can’t access the sink to wash his hands or brush his teeth on his own, nor reach the light switches. As he gets older, O’Hagan said she and her husband Bryce know these challenges will only compound, especially as he gets too heavy for them to lift. “These are all things that he absolutely could do on his own if the house could accommodate him,” she said. “He very much wouldn’t need our support … He could freely move around.” Amid a housing crisis that has Canadian policymakers and developers scrambling to bolster supply, those living with disability are urging leaders to enshrine accessibility into more newly built homes than the country has historically seen. “It just really seems like an impossible situation for us, I won’t lie,” said O’Hagan. “We want our son to be able to access everything he needs.” Beau’s situation mirrors the early life of Tracy Odell, a 66-year-old woman living in Toronto who was born with the same condition. Growing up, Odell attended what’s now known as Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, which she described as “an institution for kids” where they live and receive their schooling. But when she turned 18 and aged out of the program, her options were scarce. “A nursing home was accessible, but apartments weren’t. Houses weren’t built that wa
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