A social welfare group held a conference yesterday to promote its "independent living program" aimed at helping physically disabled people become more independent in their daily lives.
Lin Chun-chieh (
Disadvantaged people receive help from "personal assistants" in the program, she said, adding that she preferred not to use the word "caregivers" because disabled people's freedom to decide what they want to do was more clearly expressed in the term "assistants."
offering help
In a video clip showed to the symposium, assistants were shown offering help when disabled people asked for it; otherwise they would merely follow their lead.
According to Lin, who also suffers from the illness, people with disabilities are usually over-protected by their families and therefore cannot learn and grow by taking risks and making mistakes.
She said, however, the program, which originated in the US and Japan, gives people the opportunity to be responsible for what happens to them and be able to participate in a range of normal social activities.
`we are the same'
"We are the same as other people. We need to be treated equally, be respected and be allowed to blend into society," she said.
The program started in the US in the 1970s and began in Japan in the 1980s, she said, adding that it has become the focus of the fight for welfare rights for people with disabilities in several countries.
The program also includes helping people with disabilities learn how to manage their finances, how to cook, how to manage their life and what to do when going out, she said.
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