The Independent Living Philosophy –
Independent Living (IL) is the most widely accepted perspective on disability rights in America. It emphasizes that people with disabilities are the best experts on their own needs, that they have crucial and valuable perspectives to contribute to society, and deserve equal opportunity to decide how to live, work, and take part in their communities. IL philosophy includes the philosophy of consumer control, peer support, self-help, self-determination, equal access, individual and systemic advocacy, and maximizing leadership, empowerment, independence, and productivity of people with disabilities, thus maximizing the integration and full inclusion of people with disabilities in mainstream society
History of the Independent Living Movement and CILs –
Ed Roberts is known as the “Father of Independent Living”. He fought all his life to ensure people with disabilities participate fully in society. Ed was an unrelenting advocate for disability rights. He was a driving force behind the passage of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act, passed in 1990.
He suffered with polio and, as a result, was wheelchair bound and required the use of an iron lung. This was 1953, two years before the polio vaccine was invented. He was out of school for quite some time and graduated high school in 1959. Ed’s fight for his diploma was his first fight for his rights.
After receiving an associate degree from the College of San Mateo, Ed enrolled at UC at Berkeley in 1962 to pursue a degree in political science and public policy. Most of the campus was inaccessible for individuals in wheelchairs using iron lungs. Housing on campus was inaccessible to fit his iron lung so it was decided that he would be housed in the health hospital, Cowell. Initially, the California Department of Rehabilitation refused to provide funding to Ed, calling him “infeasible” for employment.
At that time, the success of rehab counselors rested on the rate at which they closed cases and how little money they spent to do so. Ed took his rejection from the Rehabilitation Department to the media, which pressured them to provide the maximum amount of aid to Ed. Early on, Ed worked as an accessibility consultant at Berkeley helping to move accessibility up the list of priorities at Berkeley. During his years at Berkeley, several more students with disabilities moved into Cowell with Ed. One rehab counselor looked for any reason to cut individual’s funding. Ed and his peers at Cowell went to the media to expose this mismanagement. The counselor was transferred and, shortly after, retired.
The services provided to the students admitted to Berkeley served as a standard for students with severe disabilities across the country.
The students of Cowell were able to get motorized wheelchairs, which gave them more freedom. This group of students became known as the Rolling Quads. Their efforts became known as the Physically Disabled Student program. This program evolved into the first Center for Independent Living (CIL), which was established in 1972 in Berkeley, CA.
Under Ed’s leadership, the CIL provided attendant and interpreter referrals, accessible housing options, mobility training, help getting and keeping disability benefits, peer counseling, and public education and advocacy.
The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 –
The Rehabilitation Act was the first piece of legislation to prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability in federal employment, in programs run by federal agencies and programs that received federal assistance. The Rehab Act authorized the formula grant programs of Vocational Rehabilitation (VR), the Client Assistance Program (CAP), Assistive Technology (AT) and Independent Living (IL). Title VII of the Rehab Act covers IL services, CILs and SILCs.