Dot Nary Wins Switzer Fellowship To Study Visitability

Is there really no place like home?

Dot Nary, PhD, RTC research associate, won the prestigious Switzer Fellowship from NIDRR in 2011, an award that is granted to individual researchers. Her project is titled “Is there really no place like home? An exploratory study of the impact of non-visitable homes on wheelchair users.”

In this qualitative study, she has interviewed wheelchair users about their experiences in visiting the homes of family members, friends and others. She is using the data to document barriers that limit the participation of people with disabilities in their communities.

Her study may also support the “visitability” policy initiative, which proposes ordinances requiring that all new single family homes be built with accessibility features that allow wheelchair users and others with mobility-related disabilities to visit.

Visitability Is "Red Hot Research" Topic

Dot Nary presented her research on the impact of invisitable homes on wheelchair users at a KU research sharing forum titled "Red Hot Research" on Mar. 14, 2013.

Her talk on "Accessibility and Social Connectedness: The Problem with U.S. Housing Stock" focused on the key themes, such as the effect on personal relationships, that elevate the importance of this problem in the lives of people who have mobility-related disabilities.