Getting started: Cars and disabilities

Talk to a professional
The first step to getting an adapted car is to educate yourself. Surf the web for information, visit a local mobility centre or the road authority. The latter will help you find out the legal requirements in your country. You can also visit one or more vehicle adaptation specialists. If you don’t know where to look for these a good starting point is this Dealer list.

Assessment
Once you feel a bit more confident about the available options it is time for a so-called assessment. This is something you do together with an occupational therapist and/or a vehicle adaptation professional. During an assessment, you go through your needs and the solutions that are available. The whole point of the assessment is to help you decide what solution and what car is best suited for your needs.

Financing
Is the user a child or a working adult? Is it a congenital disability or the result of an accident? There are various ways to provide funding for a vehicle adapted for a disability. Different countries have different solutions, some, unfortunately, have no solutions at all. But even in those cases, it might be possible to get help with funding, for example through various organisations. 

To learn more on how to get funding for your vehicle, talk to disability associations or your local vehicle adaptation professional. 

How to finance your accessible vehicle

Adaptation
You’ve finally settled on a car and it's time to start working on it. Remember to do a final check with your vehicle adaptation professional first. You need to verify that the car you want is compatible with the adaptation solutions you need. 

You might be called in for a couple of visits along the way in order to make small adjustments and test runs before everything feels perfect.