In the 1960s and '70s, disabled people started to become active on all levels of government decision-making on issues affecting their lives. This movement was formed by people with various disabilities gathering together, within their communities, and identifying barriers to access and areas of inadequate services. The earliest center was formed in 1972 in Berkeley, CA, and followed by Boston and Houston. Federal legislation was passed in 1978 to provide funding to establish independent living centers under Title VII of the Rehabilitation Act. These centers are different from other service agencies, by being directed and staffed, with disabled people and their advocates. 

Independent living is basically living just like everyone else, having opportunities to make decisions that affect one's life and the ability to pursue activities of one's own choosing, limited only in the same ways that others who do not have disabilities are limited. Most Americans take for granted the opportunities and choices they have, such as living arrangements, job opportunities, transportation, social and recreational activities, etc. These are just a few of the decisions that the disabled community is denied.

 
The disabled also face many physical barriers: access to public buildings and restrooms, curbs without cuts, lack of adaptive communication materials, and many others. Often the most difficult obstacles to overcome are the prejudices found within the non-disabled community. These last barriers are the hardest to overcome, causing many disabled persons to live less independently, due to prevalent ideas of institutionalization and hiding people with disabilities away from mainstream. It is the goal of Access II Independent Living Center to see this way of thinking becomes obsolete.

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 different from these other organizations is that the 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 which services people with disabilities need in order to live independently are disabled people themselves. Independent living isn't easy and it can be risky, But millions of people with disabilities rate it higher than a life of dependency, narrow opportunities and unfulfilled expectations. Fortunately, people with disabilities don't have to do it all on their own.

Return to the top of the page

Home