The Independent Living (IL) movement began in the early 1970s when the Berkeley Center for Independent Living in California was founded by Ed Roberts and other disabled people who attended the University of California at Berkeley. The “self-help movement,” which really began in the 1950s with the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous, came into its own in the 1970s. Many self-help books have been published and self-help groups Self-help and peer support are recognized as key points in the philosophy of independent living.
According to this principle, it is assumed that people with similar disabilities are more likely to help and understand each other than people who do not share experiences with similar disabilities. The Independent Living Model sees the problem differently and sees disability as a construct of society. Today, Centers for Independent Living are waging similar battles to ensure that the rights of people with disabilities are protected. At the heart of the Center for Independent Living (CIL)’s philosophy was that it was an interest group — not a social agency.
In 1978, Wade and Atlantis recognized that access to public transportation was essential if people with disabilities were to live independently in the community. The core values of Berkeley’s CIL, dignity, peer support, consumer control, civil rights, inclusion, equal access and advocacy, remain at the heart of independent life and disability rights movements. The concept of independent living is contrary to institutions and a departure from dependence on parents and professionals. At least five parallel and transformative social movements influenced and energized the movement for disability rights and independent living in the second half of the 20th century.
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Independent Living philosophy emphasizes consumer control, the idea that people with disabilities are the best experts for their own needs, have a crucial and valuable perspective, and deserve equal opportunity to decide how they live, work, and participate in their communities In terms of services, they want to strongly influence their daily lives and their access to independence. Independence and rehabilitation have not been the same since then and will never return to the archaic ideas that people with disabilities perceived as passive recipients of charity and are unable to direct their lives themselves. Initially, Wade provided personal assistance services to nine people himself, without payment, so that they could integrate into society and live a life of freedom and dignity. Ed Roberts was a leading international company and educator in the independent movements for life and disability rights.
Independent Living activists staged some of the most daring protests in American civil rights history, including the longest occupation of a federal building in history, leading to the publication of regulations prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities in government-funded programs led. The history of the independent living movement was heavily influenced by the African-American civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. The current history of the independent living movement is closely connected with the struggle of black civil rights and with other movements of the late 1960s and 1970s. The history of the independent life movement in the United States can be traced back to the 1850s, when deaf people began to found local organizations to advocate for their interests.
References:
- Parallels In Time | A History of Developmental Disabilities | Part One
- https://ncil.org/about/aboutil/
