Adolf Ratzka, PhD, Director, Independent Living Institute, Sweden
In Germany people must pay for personal assistance themselves, until their income and assets are almost exhausted, unless they have insurance cover. “You can have a maximum of 2600 Euros in assets and retain from your income each month 800 Euros plus enough money to pay your rent.” says Corina Zolle, who has employed her own personal assistants for 20 years. “Compared with Germany, Sweden is a paradise.” She adds.
Persönliche Assistenz ist eine hochqualitative und kostengünstige Alternative zu Wohneinrichtungen und ambulanten Diensten, laut Adolf Ratzka - eine Behauptung, die er mit den über 20-jährigen schwedischen Erfahrungen mit persönlicher Assistenz belegt. Den Hauptwiderstand gegen persönliche Assistenz in Deutschland sieht er in den Eigeninteressen der Wohlfahrtsverbände und dem noch weitverbreiteten medizinischen Bild von Behinderung.
SYRIZA, the government party in Greece, organized a conference on politics and disability together with the Greek branch of the Independent Living movement in Athens, March 13, 2015. Adolf Ratzka was invited to participate by Skype and talk about the role that Independent Living, especially Personal Assistance, can play in a country in economic crises: benefiting persons with extensive disabilities who today often depend on their families for physical survival and benefiting the national economy by creating employment opportunities and stimulating domestic demand.
of the Liberal Party (Folkpartiet), describes the Swedish Act concerning Support and Service for Persons with Certain Functional Impairments (LSS), puts it in context with other Swedish legislation, and reflects on its societal costs and benefits. The reform utilizes direct payments for freedom of choice, self-determination and personal responsibility and, in this way, differs from traditional Swedish welfare politics where state agencies typically combine the functions of needs assessment, financing, quality control and service provision. Mr Westerberg, who credits the Swedish Independent Living movement for introducing the concept of direct payments for personal assistance to Sweden, succeeded in getting the legislation approved by Parliament during the country's deep economic crisis at the beginning of the 1990's. In Sweden, his personal pride in the legislation he authored is well-known.
- The Independent Living movement paved the way: Origins of personal assistance in Sweden (page in english)
Kapitel 2 ur boken: Perspektiv på personlig assistans, Brusén Peter, Flyckt Karin (red.), Gothia Förlag 2012
Adolf Ratzka
Välviljans förtryck
Socialpolitiken styrs vanligtvis inte av dem vars liv den påverkar, utan av politiker och tjänstemän utifrån politiska hänsynstaganden och en nödvändigtvis begränsad kännedom om andra människors livsvillkor. Det gäller framför allt oss personer med omfattande funktionsnedsättningar som för vår överlevnad är beroende av andra människors praktiska insatser i det dagliga livet, exempelvis med uppstigning, påklädning, toalettbesök, duschning. Ju större vårt beroende är, desto självklarare tar sig omgivningen rätten att ha åsikter om vad vi behöver och desto mindre har vi som berörs att säga till om när det gäller hur vi vill leva våra liv och vilka samhällsinsatser vi behöver. Som resultat ser vi ofta lösningar och tjänster som Resultaten av lösningarna gör oss mer beroende av andra istället för oberoende.
Summary of legal cases, statistics and media coverage as of November 2012
In early 2010, Halmstad District Court handed down three judgments and several people were sentenced to prison for benefit fraud. These cases involved people pretending to be disabled, as well as other types of crimes, such as tax evasion and fraudulent timesheets that also figured in the subsequent discussion. In 2011 about 20 assistance companies were investigated, and two more people were convicted in February 2012.http://assistanskoll.se/20120209-Dom-mot-agare-till-assistansforetag-i-Halland.html.
Institution, home care or migrant care workers are the options available for people with disabilities in Taiwan. Migrant care workers come from other Asian countries and work under difficult conditions. Since 2008, however, inspired by Japan, there is one user cooperative with about ten assistance users.
Persons with the exactly the same disabilities can have completely different lives depending on where they live. In some countries there are policies and attitudes that allow us to develop and follow our interests, get education and work, meet friends, marry and have children. In other countries, people with disabilities may have to live with their parents or in institutions, with little contact with the outside world, with no or only simple work.
- Independent Living-rörelsen banade vägen (sidan på svenska)
Chapter 2 Perspectives on personal assistance, Brusén Peter, Flyckt Karin (ed.), Gothia Förlag 2012
Adolf Ratzka
Benign oppression
Social policy is rarely made by the people whose lives it affects. Rather, it is formulated based on political considerations by politicians and bureaucrats who, by necessity, have limited knowledge of the conditions of other people’s lives – especially regarding those of us with extensive disabilities who depend on other people to survive and require practical assistance with activities of daily living such as getting out of bed, dressing, personal hygiene and bathing. The greater our dependence, the more others assume they are entitled to have opinions about our needs and the less those of us affected have a say in how we want to live our lives and what social resources we need. As a result, solutions and services often make us more dependent on others rather than independent.