I’ve studied tourism and this is the area I worked in, but my life changed twice. First when I was 24 years and I found myself in a wheelchair after my first delivery and then seven years ago when my husband left me. Suffering from a severe disability, unable to live alone, I fought to…
The Expertise Centre Independent Living (Belgium) published a study in May 2011 on quality of life of people who use a Personal Assistance Budget (PAB) in Flanders to organize their support. Following this research we spoke with the renowned professor Robert Schalock. He tells us more about the concept of Quality of Life.
-A lot of our readers have heard about you and your work in the field of Quality of Life-research. For the people that don’t know who you are, could you introduce yourself?
The concept of quality of life appeared in my writings in the mid 1980s based on the evaluation of community based programs in Nebraska. At that time, we were establishing community-based residential and vocational programs for persons with intellectual disability and were placing individuals into more independent and productive community environments. We were proud of our accomplishments were as we continued the research activities it became apparent that something was missing in our work. I remember well, for example, making the following comment in a 1986 AJMR article: “Although we had succeeded in placing people into more independent and productive environments, we had overlooked an important item: their quality of life.’Even though I knew very little about the concept from a literature perspective, intuitively it made good sense to focus on a life of quality, which lead to the work on quality of life that I have been involved in ever since.
My name is Bor Melansek. I’m 31 years old. I am a tetraplegic and I live on my own in Ljubljana. To be able to live on my own I use personal assistance and help from my friends. What is your personal experience of disability? On the 4th of January 2004 while fooling around on…
I’m celebrating Easter in the south of Spain, as I normally do. The sun is shining as usual. And I am enjoying a walk on the beach with the help of my assistant. It’s a holiday and families are out strolling together. People from all generations are walking and stopping to chat with friends along…
Stefan Nilsson, age 39, lives in his own apartment in Stockholm. He has a large family with whom he likes to spend time. Stefan is a member of JAG and participates in the daily work offered for members at JAG’s headquarters. What kind of support do you need? I have had a personal assistant…
On the 10th May in Berlin a demonstration against the existing discrimination, segregation and exclusion is taking place to celebrate the European day of protest for the equality of disabled people. The motto of the demonstration is “Rescue parachutes for all”. The demonstration is organized by the federal initiative “At home instead of in a…
fvid-Spain Under the theme: Segregation is not Education, FVID launched a campaign to protect and ensure the right of disabled children to have access to an inclusive educational system. A letter was issued to the Secretary of State for Education after the declarations given where he promotes a model of inclusive education, where schools…
