Independent Living involves the management of one`s own finances and care independently with programs that provide social and medical services, such as the modification of homes to allow accessibility. The Independent Living model regards the person with a disability as a responsible decision maker who is in charge of their care requirements. It stems from a philosophy which states that people with disabilities should have the same civil rights and choices as do people without disabilities. Independent living organizations conceptualized disability as a social pathology and advocated that empowerment and self-direction were the keys to achieving equality (Rioux & Samson, 2006). Stienstra (2012) writes that the Independent Living movement has …show more content…
129). It was pioneered by the Canadian Paraplegic Association, founded in 1945 by World War II veterans with spinal cord injuries (Tremblay, 2003). World War II veterans rejected a philosophy of special services for the disabled and sought to participate fully in everyday society. People with disabilities continued to question the organization of services and in many countries they began to demand a role in the management of these services (Rioux & Samson). People with disabilities began to organize services independently in Independent Living Centres. Phillips (2003) describes how the Canadian Association of Independent Living Centres (CAILC), as a national umbrella organization, grew to consist of more than 24 local and autonomous Independent Living Centres (ILRCs) that focused on self-advocacy. The Independent Living model offers people with disabilities the opportunity to control their lives and to live independently in their communities; with independence defined as one’s freedom to make one’s choices. Thus, the Independent Living model de-emphasizes the disability and highlights the supports needed for the individual to succeed in his or her environment. This model portrays people with disabilities as experts in knowing their needs and aiming to adapt the environment to meet those …show more content…
For example, Hauch (2014) writes that service provision tends to focus on specific clinical criteria, noting that “while more IL-based services, such as attendant outreach services and self-administered Direct Funding may be cost-effective on a per capita basis for hours provided, recent Governments have proven wary of expanding those services due to broad eligibility criteria” (p.52). Services provided by the government are said to vary but range from professional services, such as nursing and physiotherapy, to personal support and homemaking (Kuluski, 2012, p.439). It is clear to Haunch that personal support workers and professional services are not provided in a manner conducive to the Independent Living philosophy. He writes that potential exists to deliver services with more of an Independent Living approach, pointing out that “the IL philosophy holds that people with disabilities should be granted control over their lives, including the physical assistance services that enable them to live in the community
Occupational Therapists perceive people, without discrimination, as active and creative “occupational beings” who crave engagement in activities of daily living, sequentially to maintain not merely their health but their wellbeing (COT, 2010). Occupation is a channel which directs people to better social inclusion, which in turn can result in dignity, independence, and social contribution (Waddell and Aylward, 2005) and one of the core foundations of Occupational Therapy is the necessity and value of occupations and re-engagement in occupation as an essential intervention (Ross, 2007a). Occupational Therapists who work with adults with different severities of learning disabilities experience difficulty with their everyday occupations, or activities of daily living (ADLs) and have both a clinical and a consultancy role (Lillywhite and Haines, 2010). People with a learning disability are a diverse group, and the severity of their condition can inhibit their abilities and independence (Cumella, 2013). But, how can Occupational Therapists use their professional skills to help those adults with a learning disability? How can these healthcare professionals promote their independence at home? This piece will look at the contribution of an Occupational Therapist giving an adult with a learning disability as much independence in their own locality.
Disability is a ‘complex issue’ (Alperstein, M., Atkins, S., Bately, K., Coetzee, D., Duncan, M., Ferguson, G., Geiger, M. Hewett, G., et al.., 2009: 239) which affects a large percentage of the world’s population. Due to it being complex, one can say that disability depends on one’s perspective (Alperstein et al., 2009: 239). In this essay, I will draw on Dylan Alcott’s disability and use his story to further explain the four models of disability being The Traditional Model, The Medical Model, The Social Model and The Integrated Model of Disability. Through this, I will reflect on my thoughts and feelings in response to Dylan’s story as well as to draw on this task and my new found knowledge of disability in aiding me to become
Erkulwater, Jennifer L. Disability Rights and the American Social Safety Net. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2006.
What comes into one’s mind when they are asked to consider physical disabilities? Pity and embarrassment, or hope and encouragement? Perhaps a mix between the two contrasting emotions? The average, able-bodied person must have a different perspective than a handicapped person, on the quality of life of a physically disabled person. Nancy Mairs, Andre Dubus, and Harriet McBryde Johnson are three authors who shared their experiences as physically handicapped adults. Although the three authors wrote different pieces, all three essays demonstrate the frustrations, struggles, contemplations, and triumphs from a disabled person’s point of view and are aimed at a reader with no physical disability.
Approximately twenty years ago there weren’t many improvements made to assist disabled people in the workforce. Ableism was recognized but not much was done. But that has changed significantly. People are much more aware of it and are trying to fix the mistakes of the past to create a better future. One major effect ableism has is that Canadians with disabilities are very likely to live in poverty.
If an older individual is not given the proper care in an assisted living home, it will damage the well being of the individual. “Resident independence with ADLs
"Disability the facts." New Internationalist Nov. 2013: 20+. Advanced Placement Government and Social Studies Collection. Web. 27 May 2014.
In conclusion there needs to be an increase in government funding for long term care facilities to convey maximum ability to provide quality of care to elders and equal accessibility too homes and care. Ways that can produce this outcome are increases in staff funding for training and recruitment, as well as for equipment to help increase care. Government funding should also help elders decrease the cost of living in nursing homes and allow equal accessibility to homes and care in homes.
Shakespeare, T. (1993) Disabled people's self-organisation: a new social movement?, Disability, Handicap & Society, 8, pp. 249-264 .
The World Health Organisation, WHO, (1980) defines disability in the medical model as a physical or mental impairment that restricts participation in an activity that a ‘normal’ human being would partake, due to a lack of ability to perform the task . Michigan Disability Rights Coalition (n.d.) states that the medical model emphasizes that there is a problem regarding the abilities of the individual. They argue that the condition of the disabled persons is solely ‘medical’ and as a result the focus is to cure and provide treatment to disabled people (Michigan Disability Rights Coalition, 2014). In the medical model, issues of disability are dealt with according to defined government structures and policies and are seen as a separate issue from ordinary communal concerns (Emmet, 2005: 69). According to Enabling Teachers and Trainers to Improve the Accessibility of Adult Education (2008) people with disabilities largely disa...
After spending about a year volunteering at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center and completing two field placements at local hospitals, I’ve found that my best work is done with the elderly population. These experiences have molded my personal goal to crusade for the civil rights of individuals with disabilities, especially those in the older generation. Additionally, I now have a better understanding of treatments and services that are provided to individuals with disabilities. Many patients at these hospitals were admitted due to an injury or life-threatening illness. There are millions of Americans with disabilities, yet feelings of helplessness, vulnerability, and depression are often evident, as if having a disability isn’t a common occurrence. In 2005, I was in a car accident, and it broke my pelvis, fractured my C1 vertebra and required emergency surgery to remove my spleen. I was unable to sit up or get out of bed for about 2 months and was re...
This act established old age benefits and funding for assistance to blind individuals and disabled children and the extension of existing vocational rehabilitation programmes. In present day society, since the passage of the ADA (American with Disabilities Act of 1990) endless efforts of the disability rights movement have continued on the focus of the rigorous enforcement of the ADA, as well as accessibility for people with disabilities in employment, technology, education, housing, transportation, healthcare, and independent living for the people who are born with a disability and for the people who develop it at some point in their lives. Although rights of the disabled have significantly gotten better globally throughout the years, many of the people who have disabilities and are living in extremely undeveloped countries or supreme poverty do not have access nor rights to any benefits. For example, people who are in wheelchairs as a transportation device have extremely limited access to common places such as grocery stores, schools, employment offices,
In the essay “Disability,” Nancy Mairs discusses the lack of media attention for the disabled, writing: “To depict disabled people in the ordinary activities of life is to admit that there is something ordinary about disability itself, that it may enter anyone’s life.” An ordinary person has very little exposure to the disabled, and therefore can only draw conclusions from what is seen in the media. As soon as people can picture the disabled as regular people with a debilitating condition, they can begin to respect them and see to their needs without it seeming like an afterthought or a burden. As Mairs wrote: “The fact is that ours is the only minority you can join involuntarily, without warning, at any time.” Looking at the issue from this angle, it is easy to see that many disabled people were ordinary people prior to some sort of accident. Mairs develops this po...
French, S. & Swain, J. 2008. Understanding Disability: A Guide for Health Professionals. Philadelphia: Churchilll Livingstone Elsevier: 4
...eglected social issues in recent history (Barlow). People with disabilities often face societal barriers and disability evokes negative perceptions and discrimination in society. As a result of the stigma associated with disability, persons with disabilities are generally excluded from education, employment, and community life which deprives them of opportunities essential to their social development, health and well-being (Stefan). It is such barriers and discrimination that actually set people apart from society, in many cases making them a burden to the community. The ideas and concepts of equality and full participation for persons with disabilities have been developed very far on paper, but not in reality (Wallace). The government can make numerous laws against discrimination, but this does not change the way that people with disabilities are judged in society.