Principles of Independent Living

• 
  Civil Rights – There must be no discrimination on the basis of disability.
• Consumerism - A consumer or customer is the best authority when purchasing a service or product and his or her wishes must be respected.
• Equal access – All community activities must be fully accessible to all people with disabilities.
• Community-based services – All programs and services that are community-based must be physically located in a non-institutional setting in their community and be responsive to the needs identified by people with disabilities in that community.
• De-medicalization - Individuals with disabilities are not always "sick" and may not require help from certified medical professionals for daily living.
• Self-help - People learn and grow from discussing their needs, concerns, and issues with people who have had similar experiences
• Advocacy - Systemic community-wide change activities are needed to ensure that people with disabilities benefit from all that society has to offer.
• Cross-disability – Programs and services must stress the full equality and participation of all persons with disabilities regardless of type or extent of disability.
• Barrier-removal - Architectural, communication and attitudinal barriers must be removed to ensure that people are able to fully participate in their communities. .
• Consumer control - The organizations best suited to support and assist individuals with disabilities are governed, managed, staffed and operated by individuals with disabilities.
• Community-based living - No person should be institutionalized on the basis of a disability.
• Peer support - The individuals best suited to support, assist, and guide people with disabilities are other people with disabilities.
• Confidentiality – All people have a right to receive assistance without sacrificing their privacy.

Developed by Bob Michaels with the assistance of the Illinois SILC and the European Network on Independent Living (2013)

Job Interviews

About a year ago, I was asked by our Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) agency to participate in interviews for a job opening they were trying to fill.  I imagine I was asked because I am chair of the SILC.

On the day of the interviews, each of the three interviewers was given a set of pre-approved questions with strict instructions not to deviate from them.  We were asked to score each response and total them to determine who the best interviewees were.

Now, I understand why this method was used.  It reduces opportunities for favoritism, nepotism, etc. and keeps the process above reproach.  It also, however, prevents intuitively selecting candidates based upon potential rather than experience.

Of the seven or eight applicants for the job, two rose to the top.  One had much more experience working in the disability community, so he was chosen.

There was, however, a third interviewee who all of us felt should have been in the final three, if not at the top. This man, who was probably in his late fifties, was incredibly nervous.  He had been laid off during the recession and been unemployed for several years.  Here was another guy who had submitted hundreds of applications, but only got one or two interviews. And he was blowing it.

If this was any other situation, I would have looked more closely at this man, taking time to establish rapport with him and making him more comfortable.  I would have asked more questions, giving him an opportunity to expand his responses.  I would have given him opportunities to creatively build upon his ideas.

Think of the implications for people with disabilities.   What is the likelihood that our consumers will even get an interview?  What are the chances that they will be nervous if they do get one?  We need a system where we can by-pass these rigid hiring systems. We could call it “affirmative action.”

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