What is
Essentially, it is living just like everyone else - having opportunities to
make decisions that affect one's life, able to pursue activities of one's own choosing -
limited only in the same ways that one's nondisabled neighbors are limited. Independent living. It 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. Fortunately, people with disabilities don't have to do it all on their own. The purpose of this brochure is to describe a kind of service organization which is designed specifically to assist people with disabilities who themselves have been successful in establishing independent lives. These people have both training and the personal experience to know exactly what is needed to live independently. And, they have deep commitment to assisting other disabled people in becoming more independent.
Services of Independent Living Centers Centers offer a wide variety of services. Four are essential to efforts of
people with disabilities to live independently, including: Information and referral: Centers maintain comprehensive
information files on availability in their communities of accessible housing;
transportation; employment opportunities; rosters of persons available to serve as
personal assistants, interpreters for hearing impaired people, or readers for visually
impaired people; and many other services. Peer counseling: Centers offer a service in which a person
with a disability can work with other persons who have disabilities and who are living
independently in the community. The objective is to explore options and to solve problems
that sometimes occur for people with disabilities, for example, making adjustments to a
newly acquired disability, experiencing changes in living arrangements, or learning to use
community services more effectively. Other services: Centers also offer a number of other
services, generally depending on specific needs of their consumers and lack of
availability elsewhere in the community. Among the most frequently provided services are
community education and other public education services, equipment repair, recreational
activities, and home modifications. 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 so forth. These organizations provide valuable services and are important links in the
network of services that help people with disabilities maintain independent lifestyles. What makes Independent Living centers very different from these other
organizations is that centers have substantial involvement of people with disabilities
making policy decisions and delivering services. Why this emphasis on control by people
with disabilities? The basic idea behind Independent Living is that the ones who know best
what services people with disabilities need in order to live independently are disabled
people themselves. A final word on Independent Living
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