Towards a vision for independent living
At DR UK’s conference on 18th July we were inspired by John Evans’ account of where the independent living movement has come from, reminded of the stark truth that progress has stalled – by Jenny Morris, and offered a draft set of ideas for our future rights in practice by Neil Crowther.
At the conference, some themes came up again and again:
- There was strong support for a big push on a few pressing human rights issues – like having the right to live where you choose, with whom you choose
- People present at the conference wanted real accountability of local authorities and commissioners – with requirements placed on them with teeth (to collaborate with each other, to engage disabled people in co-production from the beginning of design and development, right through to delivery and review)
- People wanted to move towards a single pot of money for support – across social and health care, education, employment etc
- There was strong commitment to universal design – with accessible transport, lifetime homes etc – coupled with individualised, flexible implementation
- A goal of ending segregation, across employment, education, transport and more
- Within a social model of disability, enabling people whatever their impairment to participate fully
Over the Summer we will be developing our Independent Living vision for the era in which we now live – drawing on the inspiration of the independent living movement, applying it to choosing our major priorities for campaigns now.
If you have proposals for future change that you think would work – or examples to feed in, that could be spread – please do contact Sue.Bott@disabilityrightsuk.org by the middle of August