It should be needless to say that special needs kids deserve as much enjoyment and self-expression in their personal space as every other kid. And yet until recently it's seemed so difficult to find beds for special needs kids that were anything but sterile, utilitarian and ordinary. Fortunately, interior designers are finally starting to catch wind of this glaring need in children's bed design and have begun incorporating elements of fun, playfulness, and fantasy into custom special needs kid's beds.
Parents of special needs kids have complained for years that the only beds available to their children have been cribs and not beds. Not only are special needs cribs expensive and ugly, but they can also be humiliating and disempowering for special needs kids older than toddler age who have enough to work through already without also having a bedroom that makes them feel like they're still an infant. Other past attempts at special needs beds just look like stalls and hospital beds, none of which inspire any sort of delight in the child forced to sleep there.
Crib Rail
That's why custom special needs beds are such a welcome and attractive alternative. Now a special needs kid can have a custom castle bed, a custom race car bed, a custom tree house bed, a custom mansion bed, or any other custom fantasy bed they can imagine - just like their friends.
There's no reason, for example, that a child in a wheelchair can't have a custom theme bed befitting his fondest desires that incorporates into it wheelchair access. Beds for special needs kids may also include extra storage space to accommodate all their special child care items. From building materials to access and safety, every element of day-to-day living with a special needs child can be taken into account in the design and building process.
A key element of custom beds for special needs kids is clear visibility between the bed and the rest of the room, allowing parents to keep a close eye on their special needs child with an easy sightline from the bedroom door as well as allowing the child him or herself to see windows, wall murals, a TV, or any other cherished and crucial bedroom item or element directly from his or her bed.
One key aspect of custom theme beds designed for special needs kids is that any objects or devices critical to the child's care can be easily incorporated into the design such that it is camouflaged to fit in with the overall fantasy setting. This allows for all the child's special needs to be taken care of, not least of which is the need to feel "normal" and not have their medical circumstances staring them in the face at every second.
If you're the parent of a special needs kid, why not get them a bed that is both attractive and appealing to them while let at the same time fitting their extra-special needs.