What people with disabilities want from life
On the verge of winning federal approval of its non profit status and with 16 new members, the Rhode Island Developmental Disabilities Council held its 2009 annual meeting late last month to set priorities for its advocacy agenda.
Thirty-four men and women participated in the two-day session. Many were people with disabilities or their relatives who provided an extraordinary window into the complexities of their lives as they shared their joys and trials, and sometimes funny, sometimes frustrating life experiences that are typical of those experienced by thousands of other Rhode Islanders with disabilities and their families.
It's clear. They all want a good life. In fact "Life is Good" was the theme for this year's annual meeting. Members participated in an exercise to name three things that they believe are important for a good life.
Organized into small groups to discuss their ideas, they later presented them to the whole group.
People with disabilities are, they concluded, – first and foremost, people – people who have individual abilities, interests and needs. For the most part, they are ordinary people who don't want a "special life" but rather an ordinary one.
They want to live in affordable, safe housing, be able to participate in community activities and events, go shopping, go to the movies, go out to eat, work, and enjoy life.
While people with developmental disabilities may need support to do certain things, they also have abilities, skills, interests, ideas, likes and dislikes, the same as everyone else.
They have the right to set their own goals, take risks in pursuit of them and enjoy their achievements.
Ideas generated during the annual meeting will form the basis for projects to be undertaken by Systems and Individual and Family Advocacy Committees to help ensure independence, productivity, integration, and inclusion of people with disabilities in the communities.
