Secretary Keegan Hillier attended the Inclusion London event, What next for Independent Living?, on Thursday 16th April. The event took place in person at the Coin Street Community Centre in Central London.
The focus of the day was on understanding the movement out of institutions and imprisonment, and ensuring that disabled people remain able to choose and have a say in their care and living situations.
As the photo shows, there was a wide range of people from across the capital, with some coming in from even further afield. We hope to invite some of the contacts made to future All Members Meetings to share how schemes from other areas can be applied to and improve accessibility and disability understanding in Kingston upon Thames.
Keegan’s Key Takeaways from the day were;
- The Independent Living movement is surprisingly new – the movement began in the late 1960s in America.
- The UK version was kicked off by John Evans, among other prisoners of institutions, leading up to Project 81, with the UN International Year of Disabled People, 1981, being their target for freedom.
- In the 1980s, Centres for Independent Living (CILs) and Deaf and Disabled Peoples Organisations (DDPOs) created, and practiced, the concept of self-directed support.
- This was a radical change at the time, challenging the medical and charitable models of disability in favour of the social model.
- This was where the move to describing people as Personal Assistants (PAs) over Carers came in, as they assisted with living life.
- It took until 2007 for the UN Convention on the Rights of Disabled People. This was ratified by the UK government in 2010.
- Intersectionality was essential, especially in the early days of the Independent Living movement.
- Panelists explained how the Black Panthers movement in America were very supportive of the ‘Crip Camps’ and other disability organisations and movements that went on in their country. The panelists also raised how women were particularly important in supporting the work of Independent Living activists, especially in its early days.
- Reflections on what more needs to be done included;
- Revisions to personal budgets, to allow for greater freedom to provide what disabled people need.
- Tackling misconceptions of what ‘independence’ means, as what is viewed as independence to able-bodied people is often very different to what is true independence for disabled people.
- Continuing to speak up when policy and systems are not working. This includes, but is not limited to, advocacy for greater funding into social care, or pushing for more accessible and adaptable affordable and social housing.
Inclusion London regularly runs campaigns, and events, working to improve accessibility and unite disabled people across London. You can see their current campaigns at the following link – https://www.inclusionlondon.org.uk/campaigns-and-policy/