Support for people with disabilities
Independent living
Control over your own life
The essence of the philosophy of independent living is that people with disabilities live their lives as “normal human beings“.
Independent living allows us to have control over our own lives, which means the ability to choose and decide where, with whom and how we will live. People with disabilities should create, manage and control the policy and operation of services that affect their lives. Services must be available to everyone on the basis of equal opportunities that allow us flexibility in everyday life. Independent living requires that the built environment and transportation are accessible, that technical aids are available, access to personal assistance and other services/support in the local community.
[...] Independent life means that we demand the same choices and control in everyday life that our non-disabled brothers and sisters, neighbors and friends take for granted. We want to grow up in families, go to local schools, ride the same bus as our neighbors and do jobs that are in line with our education and interests, and start our own families (...). We are quite ordinary people and we share the need to feel included, acknowledged and loved. As long as we treat our disability as an accident, we will be pitied! As long as we are ashamed of who we are, our lives will be considered useless. As long as we remain silent, others will tell us what to do.
The key principles of independent living are:
