Tuesday, March 10, 2015

What's An Institution?

Light blue silhouette of a bird, the Twitter logoWhat kinds of living and working situations for disabled people count as “institutional” and what counts as “inclusive” or “community-based?” What makes one approach “institutional” and another not? Which produces the best results for disabled people? Why were disabled people institutionalized so much in the past?

Since it seems like people are still defending institutions, even talking about having more of them, I think it's important to be direct about the issue. Unfortunately, it’s hard to find clear, simple talk about it.

That’s why these live Tweets caught my eye. They are from a presentation by Ari Ne'man. President of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, given at a conference in San Francisco, Developmental Disabilities: An Update for Health Professionals. He makes some great points: