"Vision 2020"

"Vision 2020"

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Vision 2020
Jaclyn Michelle Kratzer, HSW

While we have come a long way since Ed Roberts developed the first Center for Independent Living with the creation and enactment of various laws and bills that support the civil rights of people with disabilities, we have a long way to go. During the next twenty years, I see the independent movement growing and expanding to meet every need of persons with disabilities so that no gaps in services will exist. The growth of services would include more opportunities for consumers to socialize out in public without the traditional obstacles. There will also be cooperatives formed where people with disabilities will be members and gain access to such services as transportation, easy access medical equipment and devices, and other services typically utilized by people with disabilities. Last but not least, within the next twenty years, there will no longer be medical model usage, but rather all consumer driven services.

Services provided by Centers for Independent Living will expand to help a greater number of people to reach their goals and provide them with opportunities to socialize within society. Currently funding is an issue in providing the current services. By the year 2020 I hope that it becomes less of a “us - them” situation. Funding for these services will not be done because they are seen as giving money to the less fortunate, but rather given to fulfill a need. There will no longer be a need to determine if an individual is eligible, or fits into a given criteria, but rather money will be given just because a need is stated. The money will fit the person and their needs, rather than their needs fitting the program.

While CIL’s function on this basis currently, I see them assisting people with disabilities to reach their goals and obtain services in this manner in other areas of the services arena. In this realm there will also be enough funding available to people with disabilities to afford them the opportunity to hire, train, and retain assistant services to have the assistance people with disabilities need in order to accomplish everything they want in any given day. By this I mean there will not be an assessment to determine as to what situation is “appropriate” for the person with a disability to receive personal assistant services and no longer will these services be “granted” to just fill basic needs, but rather be available to a person with a disability whenever the person themselves determines that they need the services. For example, if the person wants to go out to dinner, they will be able to request an assistance at the time they need one instead of twenty minutes to be worked into a service plan for “meal prep”. The person should set their own schedule, instead of a case manager developing a plan to fulfill what they determine to be one’s basis needs as part of a service plans. A schedule designed by the person would be flexible to fit into their lifestyle rather than having to wait for extra hours to be approved by a board that hardly knows the individual or the situation. This freedom will allow people with disabilities to socialize at will without the obstacle of obtaining assistance services to do so.

In the next twenty years cooperatives will be designed for the people by the people. Members will pay a yearly fee and coordinate the services that are a part of the cooperative. As members they will have access to all the services in which said cooperative provides. Services of such a cooperative would be designed to fill the gaps that currently exists. For instance, if transportation is currently an issue for people with disability, a cooperative would provide affordable, accessible transportation on demand to its members. That is just one example. While at first blush a cooperative such as this may seem like a club of segregation for people with disabilities, in reality it will do the opposite. It will give persons with disabilities other avenues to pursue to obtain the necessary services for greater integration within the community. Centers for Independent Living can be members of the cooperatives, facilitate more services that the cooperative provides, and promote community involvement in said cooperative. Other individuals without disabilities can and will be members of a cooperative as well.

Another example of how a cooperative could work would be if a person with a disability needed an assistive living device that was not provided by traditional insurance, a cooperative may be able to provide the person with a disability the device at a discounted cost if it can be provided by a service provider that is part of the cooperative. This will eliminate the need for doctor’s prescriptions, doctor’s input, and waiting for approval from one’s insurance company before a person can obtain the device. It will be more of if one wants it, it will be there. This will lead to a more consumer choice structure.

Finally in 2020, people, all people, will have choice, despite whether or not they have a disability. Everyone’s choice will be counted and followed through. They will direct their lives instead of others. People with disability will say what they want instead of doctors, nurses, social workers, and / or family members telling them what is in their best interest, This will be where the independent living movement will be in total. Centers for Independent Living, will educate the general public so there will no longer need to be a need for education on disability awareness. Society will be satirized and totally integrated so that the service of such awareness programs will no longer be needed. Accessibility to all areas within any given community will no longer be an issue, but rather accessibility will be the norm and all society will benefit from it. The Independent Living Movement will grow in the respect that there will be more services chosen and provided by and for the people who use them. It will focus on consumer choice to the greatest degree and will promote the need and understanding for such a model. The movement will promote the abolishment of all of the current obstacles for integration until there is no segregation of any kind. The movement will focus on CHOICE until choice is the norm. All services will be utilized by consumers when they choose to use them, not when others decide they need them. The movement will have a voice, a bigger voice than before to be heard. Heard by all who have yet to hear it and hopefully in twenty years be a voice so loud that is one accepted and listened to be all - with no string, red tape, politics, medical models, segregation, inaccessibility’s, or other obstacles attached. Heard because people with disabilities will be accepted by all - not ostracized, stared at, discriminated against, or hurt by stereotypical views. Heard because there is understanding, compassion, and empathy for not only for people with disabilities but for all people. Heard because people with disabilities, would be seen as just people, not people with conditions - just people - plain and simple. This would make the next twenty years successful and worthwhile for all people in society - all who are a part of the HUMAN race.