Independent Living—or Vida Independiente, as it will be called in this article—has grown in Spain via the internet and is now running a pilot project with personal assistance in several urban areas.
In Greece families assume a large responsibility, including for personal assistance. But society is rapidly changing, as can be seen in the streets and squares in recent times.
The population of Iceland is less than 300,000. Everyone knows each other in small towns, and even in the city of Reykjavik. Yet for now, the number of people who have assistance can be counted on one hand. Iceland is a Nordic country, but in terms of personal assistance it has not kept up with the region.
“In Flanders, Belgium, 4,000 people are waiting to receive assistance,” says Viviane Sorée, chairperson of Bol Budiv. Viviane Sorée is chairperson of the organization Bol Budiv, which helps individuals who receive assistance. They provide advice and support to 1,350 people with disabilities living in Flanders. Bol Buiv is a two-year old project that is financed by government funding.
“We have high hopes to be able to continue our work after the project ends.”
Christian Bayer’s most important issue is means-tested personal assistance. People who have a job and earn money have to pay for their personal assistance themselves. According to German law, people in need of personal assistance can get money from the State for it. Yet, unlike Sweden, the payments depend on your income and property.
Persons with extensive disabilities need assistance by other people in their everyday lives with such activities as getting bathed and dressed or going to the toilet; with shopping, preparing meals, cleaning or doing the laundry; with such responsibilities within the family as doing the practical tasks involved in raising small children or assisting one' s aging parents. Assistants help the user at work, about town and on travel. They assist in communicating or in structuring the day, as the case might be. In brief, assistants help with those activities which the user would have done by himself or herself, had it not been for a physical, sensory, mental or intellectual disability.
Social policy is typically not made by the people who are most affected by it. Up to now, we, the users of assistance, have had to accept the decisions handed down to us by other people. Since we are often considered helpless and incapable of taking charge of our own lives, the public and often we ourselves have taken for granted that it is best for us, if others, the professionals make these decisions for us.
Croatians are proud of their disability policy. A disability ombudsman who has a disability has been appointed and accessibility and legislation are on the right track. A law on personal assistance will take effect in 2010.
"Having PAs enabled me to find out who I am and now enables me to be who I am." If you are a disabled person and about to start receiving a Direct Payment to employ your own personal assistants (PAs), this book aims to give you a flavour of what it is like; the joys and the challenges. This book covers recruitment, managing, using PAs in social situations and at work, and dealing with problems. Put together by Sian Vasey with cartoons by David Shenton.
La política sugerida aquí es diferente, porque está escrita por individuos quienes en sí dependen de la asistencia diaria de otros. El Centro Europeo para la Excelencia en Asistencia Personal (ECEPA) (www.ecepa.org) está formado por ocho organizaciones asociadas 1, en ocho países europeos, que son operadas y controladas por personas con discapacidad y se especializa en brindar y defender los servicios de asistencia personal para personas con discapacidad. Usando nuestra experiencia combinada con las políticas de asistencia personal, se recopiló una lista de características para una política que promueve la autodeterminación y la ciudadanía completa para las personas con discapacidades extensivas.
John Evans was one of the founders of Project 81 that marked the beginning of the Independent Living Movement in the UK. Since 1996 he has been the chair of the European Network on Independent Living (ENIL). In this document he gives an overview of the origin of the Independent Living Movement in the UK, it's development and evolution, as well as the current situation (2003).
With little or no previous experience the disabled person seeking to live independently suddenly finds her/himself thrust into the role of employer. Not surprisingly the effective management skills essential to coping with the day-to-day matter of relating to her/his personal assistant are sometimes absent or under-developed.
GAD's Center for Independent Living can help. (1993)
We have already assisted nearly a dozen people in the employment of their own personal assistants. This really does put you, the disabled person in control. You can decide who to employ, which hours they should work and what they should do. But control brings with it responsibilities and this is where GAD can help.
In April 1989, the first European Independent Living Conference was held at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France. The meeting's theme was Personal Assistant. The conference resulted in the founding of the European Network for Independent Living, ENIL. Here, the resolution adopted at the conference.
In 1961, German-born teenager Adolf Ratzka was paralyzed by polio. He seemed destined to spend his life in institutions, but at 22 won a scholarship to study in California. The U.S. was then the only country with Photograph of Dr. Adolf Ratzka together with daughter, Katharina.facilities, such as a personal assistant and a car that could be driven by wheelchair-bound people, enabling severely disabled persons to pursue normal academic study.
In most countries the importance of the family as a form of social insurance is declining. As the extended family gradually disappears with industrialization and the labor market's demands on geographical mobility, as divorce rates go up and single parents become increasingly common, the ability of the family to provide mutual aid in everyday life is diminishing. One of the results is that families have fewer resources left for members with special needs such as disabled children or old parents. If there is no place for these groups in the family, where can they turn to?
Around 2000 people have personal assistance financed through personal budgets in Germany. Germany has a population of 80 million so 2000 PA users are not very many.
Social policy is typically not made by the people who are most affected by it. Up to now, we, the users of assistance, have had to accept the decisions handed down to us by other people. Since we are often considered helpless and incapable of taking charge of our own lives, the public and often we ourselves have taken for granted that it is best for us, if others, the professionals make these decisions for us. 
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