Independent Living Home Reflection Paper

I was really grateful for the opportunity to visit the independent living center and learn more about their programs that they offer. It is a program that I have heard of before but didn’t really understand what it was. I thought it was an assistant living home that helps people develop more independent skills, so that they can return to their families at home or live alone. I had a basic understanding of their goal, but I had also a partial false belief of their services that I’m grateful to have corrected. I really enjoyed Debra and Julie taking their time to help us understand their goals and how they themselves have been involved in the independent living movement and the passing of the ADA.
Before meeting them I didn’t have a picture …show more content…
During the rest of our course after they left I thought why would it surprise me that they were in a wheelchair? I felt that nothing is wrong with them running the facility because obviously just because something is wrong physically doesn’t mean they don’t have the mental ability to be successful. I realized that the influence may have been caused by the society perspective on individuals with physical disabilities that is well explained in their stories and in Zola experience within a village completely made for those with disabilities. As Zola stated in chapter ten, he said, “Our approach to social problems is out of sight, out of mind” (Zola, pg. 198). For example, Julie tells of when she was a child being forced to attend a school that only had disability students. Her first couple of weeks she felt that she was at the wrong school because others had …show more content…
Sometimes with my disability I am scared to speak up when I’m not confident that people will agree with me. I hope to someday have the same bravery as these women that are willing to shout to the world that we are unique and are