In the New York Times, an extended feature about injured Iraq veteran James Fair and Homes for Our Troops, a Massachusetts-based organization that has built him a house with high-tech accommodations for his disabilities. Fair is blind, has brain injuries, and has lost both arms below the elbows, the result of an explosion. An excerpt:

[The house] is a test case of the ways design can improve the lives of severely wounded veterans and their families, and of the limits of its power to turn around a situation like Mr. Fair’s.

… Paul Gemme, the projects manager who oversees the construction of most Homes for Our Troops houses, said the work is rewarding but also challenging, in part because the veterans he builds for are often frustrated, and have higher expectations for their new homes than a charity can meet.

“A lot of human emotions come into this,” he said. The veterans “are in a situation they never thought they would be in. We have had to employ a lot of Psych 101.”

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 9th, 2008 at 1:32 pm and is filed under accessibility, blindness/visual impairments, brain damage, caregivers, housing, veterans, wheelchair. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.  Email This Post