Independent Living Institute

According to legislation from 11 February 1980, No. 18, (in Italian: http://pc-belli.idg.fi.cnr.it/vipdn/80N00180.htm) people with severe disabilities may be entitled to "indennità di accompagnamento". This is an allowance of about $475 U.S. a month and the user directly pays the personal assistant(s) of his/her choice. With this money it is possible to have 50-60 hours of personal assistance a month.

The main law regarding people with disabilities in Italy is from 5 February 1992, No. 104 (in Italian: http://pc-belli.idg.fi.cnr.it/vipdn/92N01040.htm):

What is it about disability that makes the media so uneasy? With rare exception, the media use the same shopworn stereotypes to portray people with disabilities - the pitiable cripple; the courageous and inspiring hero; the broken person who'd be better off dead, unless, of course, there's a cure just around the corner.

Why do the media continually use the same ill-fitting and inaccurate phrases such as "wheelchair-bound," "afflicted" and "special needs," that the disability community rejected long ago?

"Disability is still such a negative stereotype," said Bill Stothers, former editor and publisher of the disability magazine Mainstream and a 30-year veteran of newsrooms in Canada and the United States.

Dear Friends: We write to you because we believe certain persons and organizations who claim to speak for persons with disabilities may have seriously misrepresented the views of many of us.

Public attention in recent years has focused on issues surrounding end-of-life care. We believe this is all to the good. Death, like birth, is part of the life process, neither to be feared nor denied. In truth, the end of life can be a time of expressing and sharing love, forgiveness and thankfulness. We believe end-of-life choices are a private matter. Interest groups, legislators, judges, and publicity-seekers have no business interfering with the decision-making autonomy of the dying patient.

In English

Andrew Batavia är Associate Professor vid School of Policy and Management, College of Urban and Public Affairs, Florida International University, North Miami, Florida.

Artikeln, Prospects for a National Personal Assistance Services Program: Enhancing Choice for People with Disabilities, är tidigare publicerad i American Rehabilitation Volym 24, nummer 4 Vintern 1998 Personal Assistance Services del 2 av 2. American Rehabilitation är Rehabilitation Services Adminsitrations (RSA) officiella organ. Adress: 330 C Street S.W Washington D.C. 20202-2531

På svenska

Mr. Batavia is Associate Professor, School of Policy and Management, College of Urban and Public Affairs, Florida International University, North Miami, Florida.

von Elke Bartz, Vorsitzende
Forum Selbstbestimmter Assistenz Behinderter Menschen e.V.

Zunächst möchte ich mich recht herzlich für die Einladung zu diesem Workshop bedanken und kurz vorstellen. Mein Name ist Elke Bartz. Ich wohne mit meinem Mann Gerhard in Hollen- bach, einem kleinen Dorf in Deutschland, genau gesagt in Baden Württemberg. Seit einem Autounfall vor 21 Jahren bin ich ab dem 6. und 7. Halswirbel querschnittgelähmt. Daher benötige ich rund um die Uhr Assistenz. Ich engagiere mich seit mehreren Jahren intensiv in der Arbeit für Menschen mit Be- hinderungen.

by Suresh C. Ahuja
Executive Director National Association of the Blind, India
Chairman World Blind Union Committee on Social Development

Report of the CIB Expert Seminar on Building Non-Handicapping Environments, Harare 1992

Accessible, adaptable low-cost housing in Egypt

Dr. Safaa M. Issa Abdou, Development & Popular Housing Co., Cairo, Egypt

Contents

Introduction

Architecture is a measure of society's advancement or retardation and a record of nations' civilization. Man is civilization's creator and its primary architect who set its foundations and raised its magnificent, tall edifices. And for Man there has always been the pursuit of civilization, freedom and equality.

Colin Barnes, Disability Research Unit, Leeds

I’d like to thank Adolf and the Institute for Independent Living for inviting me here.