Independent Living Institute

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Mission

The Independent Living Institute promotes opportunities for self determination, self respect and dignity for people with disabilities.

Independent Living is an international movement working for the same freedom of choice and participation in society which other citizens take for granted. This presupposes a society that does not marginalize people with disabilities through inaccessible infrastructure, discriminatory attitudes or stigmatizing special solutions.

People with disabilities are the best experts on their own needs. The majority of our employees have disabilities.

Projects

In our earlier projects we worked for Direct Payments for Personal Assistance. We took the initiative for the STIL project which paved the way for the Swedish Personal Assistance Act of 1994, LASS, which entitles assistance users to cash benefits from the social insurance system for buying assistance services from service providers of their choice or for employing assistants themselves. In 1997-1998 we implemented a similar project in Slovakia which led to a national Direct Payments policy for assistance in that country. There is a demand for our services as lecturers and consultants in other countries.

Training as Vehicle to Employment: In late December 2005 The Independent Living Institute together with seven other European Independent Living organizations were awarded a two-year project contract by the European Commission, Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities Directorate General. We will work with government agencies in a dozen European countries to ensure that their trainee and internship programs are also open to qualified people with disabilities. To improve the chances of disabled youth in the labor market we plan to list training opportunities where disabled youth can gain valuable work experience and insight into the operations of top level agencies. The training opportunites will be published in our Study and Work for All database. Read more >>

With the project Taxi for All (Taxi för alla) we worked to further expand opportunities for self-determination for people with extensive disabilities. Read more >>

The Study and Work Abroad for All project builds a database with information about international study and traineeship opportunities for, amongst others, young people with disabilities.

Radio Independent Living produces audio documentaries and commentaries on Independent Living issues, such as de-institutionalization. The programs can be listened to online. Read more >>

Fashion Freaks develops fashionable clothing patterns for people with disabilities. Some patterns are available, and more are on the way, that they can be easily adapted to individual needs. Read more >>

In the European Union financed project European Centre for Excellence on Personal Assistance we develop, together with seven partner organizations, national model legislation for personal assistance, with the aim of impacting policy in this area.

With project Contributing to Equality from Independent Living (CEIL) we disseminate, together with international partner organizations and with support from the EU, examples of good practice in the field of Independent Living to Southern Europe. Read more >>

Within the international consortium KARMA II, Information Technology solutions are developed to support families so that they can keep children who have brain damage at home.

Interactive Web Services

Our virtual full-text Library contains hundreds of documents on Independent Living and related subjects such as personal assistance, anti-discrimination laws, universal design (buildings, communication, transportation, etc. accessible for all), training manuals, etc., and has over 1,500 visitors daily. The library’s documents are primarily in English. Read more >>

The Disability Ombudsman Report Service (Swedish only) facilitates electronic reporting to the Office of the Disability Ombudsman of businesses, authorities, companies, etc. that discriminate against people with disabilities. Via the searcheable public online database it is possible to follow the countrywide extent of discrimination. Read more >>

Vacation Home Exchange with presently 200 objects around the world in its database, enables people with extensive disabilities to swap their homes for vacation purposes. Read more >>

The Personal Assistant Referral service matches assistance users and prospective assistants for visits and travel abroad. Read more >>

The Organization

The Independent Living Institute is an non-profit private foundation based in Sweden. Projects are financed primarily from the Swedish government General Inheritance Fund (Allmänna Arvsfonden), the EU, and to a small extent from private sponsors.

Our annual reports can be viewed here.

Summary of the Foundation's Finances (SEK)