“Independent living” does not mean that people with disabilities must lead fully independent and self-sufficient lives away from other people. On the contrary, it is rather the social model of disability, according to which people face the problem of limited choices not because of any of their own congenital characteristics or diseases, but because of the limitations imposed on them by society and the physical environment in which they live. In a socially-oriented society, a person with a disability is provided not so much with physical assistance, but with support in making independent and autonomous decisions (and in some cases assistance in making such decisions), on an equal footing with the rest of society. According to one scholar who studies the problem of disability, “In reality, in the conditions of modern industrial society, no person is completely independent: we are all dependent on one another in one way or another. Consequently, the dependence experienced by people with disabilities is not their distinctive feature and does not set them against other members of society. 8 The only problem is that the aids that some people with disabilities have to use (for example, adapted means of transportation) are more visible than the services and infrastructure that are available to all other people who lead an “independent” life in society.

The notion of independence plays an important role in ensuring equality for people with disabilities. The “independent living” movement advocates respecting the right of people with disabilities to personal autonomy and control over their own lives, as well as demanding that people be provided with public services that enable them to live independently in society.9 Independent living means that a person chooses the life that suits him or her – in the family, separately from it or in any other conditions he or she wishes. Most importantly, he retains autonomy and control over his life and decisions, while having access to the means of personal assistance necessary to ensure his livelihood.