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Frequently
Asked Questions
What
is Independent Living?
What
is the Definition of Independent
Living?
How
do Centers For Independent Living differ from other
service organizations?
When
Did The Independent Living Movement First Begin?
What is Independent Living?
Most Americans take for granted opportunities they have
regarding living arrangements, employment situations, means
of transportation, social and recreational activities, and
other aspects of everyday life.
For many Americans with disabilities, however, barriers in
their communities take away or severely limit their choices.
These barriers may be obvious, such as lack of ramped
entrances for people who use wheelchairs, lack of
interpreters or captioning for people with hearing
impairments, lack of brailled or taped copies of printed
material for people who have visual impairments. Other
barriers - frequently less obvious - can be even more
limiting to people with disabilities to live independently,
and they result from people's misunderstandings and
prejudices about disability. These barriers can result in
low expectations regarding the ability of people with
disabilities to achieve their goals.
Millions of people all over America who experience
disabilities have established independent lives. They
fulfill all kinds of roles in their communities: employers,
employees, marriage partners, parents, students, athletes,
politicians, taxpayers, an unlimited list. In most cases,
the barriers facing them haven't been removed, but these
individuals have been successful in overcoming or at least
dealing with them.
What
is the Definition of Independent
Living?
What is independent living? Essentially, it is living just
like everyone else-having opportunities to make decisions
that affect one's life, the ability to pursue activities of
one's own choosing.
Independent living should not be defined in terms of living
on one's own, being employed in a job fitting one's
capabilities and interests, or having an active social life,
although these are aspects of living independently.
Independent living has to do with self - determination. It
is having the right and the opportunity to pursue a course
of action. And, it is having the freedom to fail -and to
learn from one's failures, just as nondisabled people
do.
There are, of course, individuals who have cognitive
disabilities which may affect their ability to make
decisions or pursue complex activities. For these
individuals, independent living means having every
opportunity to be as self sufficient as possible.
Independent living isn't easy, and it can be risky. But
millions of people with disabilities rate it higher than a
life of dependency and narrow opportunities and unfulfilled
expectations.
How
do Centers For Independent Living differ from other service
organizations?
There are many different types of organizations which serve
people with disabilities-state vocational rehabilitation
agencies, group homes, rehabilitation hospitals, sheltered
workshops, nursing homes, senior centers, home health care
agencies, and others. These organizations provide valuable
services and are important links in the network of services
that help people with disabilities maintain independent
lifestyles.
What makes centers for independent living very different
from these other organizations is that centers have
substantial involvement of people with disabilities in
policy decisions and delivering services. Why this emphasis
on control by people with disabilities? The basic idea
behind independent living is that people with disabilities
know best what services individuals need in order to live
independently.
When Did The Independent Living Movement First
Begin?
In the late 1960's and early 1970's, people with
disabilities from around the country began to take active
roles on local, state, and national levels in shaping
decisions on issues affecting their lives. A major part of
these activities involved formation of community-based
groups of people with different types of disabilities who
worked together to identify barriers and gaps in service
delivery. To address barriers, action plans were developed
to educate the community and to influence policy makers at
all levels to change regulations and to introduce
barrier-removing legislation. To address gaps in services, a
new method of service delivery was conceived - one which has
people with disabilities determining the services essential
to living independently, has people with disabilities
directing the delivery of these services, and has people
with disabilities actually providing these services.
The earliest center was formed in 1972 in Berkeley,
California, soon followed that same year by centers in
Boston and Houston. In 1978, following effective advocacy by
people with disabilities and their supporters all over the
country, Federal legislation was passed, that provided
funding to establish centers for independent living (Title
VII of the Rehabilitation Act). Today, there are centers in
virtually every state and U.S. territory.
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