Independent Living

The term ‘Independent Living’ as defined by people with disabilities does not mean doing things for yourself or living on your own. It means having choice and control over the assistance and/or equipment/assistive devices needed for daily life and having access to amenities that society has to offer, such as housing, transport, health services, and employment, as well as entertainment, education and training opportunities.

Independent Living (IL) is a vision, a philosophy, and a movement of persons with disabilities. Born on California university campuses in the 1970s, the movement spread to Canada in the 1980s and has since reached around the globe and changed the way people view and respond to disability.

Independent Living is founded on the rights of people with disabilities to:

Live with dignity in their chosen community.
Participate in all aspects of their life.
Control and make decisions about their own lives.
The IL vision and philosophy have been articulated through the Independent Living movement, a network of individuals, and community-based resource centres across the country, supported by a national organization, Independent Living Canada.

The Canadian IL Movement and Independent Living Centre Kingston were founded on five principles:

Consumer Control: Those who believe in the IL philosophy insist on the right of people with disabilities to examine possible choices, make decisions, take risks, make mistakes, and generally take responsibility of their own lives.
Cross disability: The IL Movement recognizes the fact that people with various disabilities have unique needs and face unique barriers. It also acknowledges that all people with disabilities have the same rights.
Community based: The IL Movement is a grassroots movement. The people who use the Centres in each local community are the ones who decide what needs have to be addressed and the best approaches to deal with barriers.
Promotion of Participation and Integration: Inherent in the philosophy of IL, is the human right to be included, which is the right of citizens to participate in the social, political, economic, academic, and cultural life of their community.
Not-for-Profit: All IL Centres are non-profit organizations, with a volunteer Board of Directors and members who are committed to alternatives to existing service provision. Centres form partnerships with community groups.

The Independent Living Philosophy recognizes the rights of individuals with disabilities and assists them in developing their individual capacity to exercise their rights and manage personal and community resources. Consumers are encouraged to identify and achieve their own independent living life goals.

This philosophy emphasizes and, more importantly, enables persons with disabilities to have access to resources, which ensure that individuals have the right to examine options, make choices, take responsibility to take risks, and have the right to make mistakes.

The IL Mission is to promote and enable the progressive process whereby citizens with disabilities achieve their desired lifestyles by taking responsibility for the development and management of their personal and community resources.

The IL movement and the philosophy on which it is based are not abstract concepts. Instead, IL is about a 'way of living' for persons with disabilities who live in a society where many barriers remain. This approach is referred to as the 'IL lens', an approach that is applicable to all supports and services that Independent Living Centre Kingston provides.

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Independent Living Centre Kingston Valued Partners