Models, Paradigms and Perspectives

In The Departed, Jack Nicholson declares “I don’t want to be a product of my environment; I want my environment to be a product of me”. As such, Independent Living Sudbury Manitoulin promotes an environment emphasizing the capabilities and contributions of individuals with disabilities. By employing the Independent Living philosophy, ILSM has created an accessible, inclusive, dignified space that serves as a second home to members who have become a close-knit kind of “family”. This paper notes ways in which, as noted by Linton, disability is “socially constructed to serve certain ends” and identified “in terms that are socially and economically convenient to society”. It analyzes how conceptions of disability and societal stigma affect areas including social assistance and employment in a time of austerity and neoliberal reforms.