Film gives snapshot of independent living for people with disability

Independent care: Inside I'm Dancing, Irish director Damien O'Donnell's new film about two young men with physical disabilities setting up home together, is an altogether inspiring example of how film can introduce a topic such as "Independent Living for People with Disabilities" to a mainstream cinema-going audience.

The film's principle character, Michael Connolly (Steven Robertson), who has cerebral palsy, has lived in residential care all his life. The arrival of new resident Rory O'Shea (James McAvoy), a rebellious young man with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, changes his life forever.

Their inward and outward journey as they set about finding a flat, recruiting a personal assistant and generally pushing out the boundaries for people with disabilities such as themselves is uplifting and optimistic.

Martin Naughton, who co-founded the first Irish Centre for Independent Living for people with disabilities, is very pleased with the film. "I hope it will inspire young people with disabilities to pack as much as they can into their lives. Also I hope it will challenge the funding bodies and show everyone that people with disabilities are not looking for anymore than anyone else."

The idea of people with disabilities living independently is still quite radical and Naughton acknowledges that the film makes independent living look easier than it is. "Many people with disabilities don't even have the opportunity to decide when they can have a cigarette, they are made feel so dependent. So it is a huge leap to say maybe I can have a job and moving into a home of their own is the biggest challenge they face," says Naughton.

However, he adds that independent living often not only gives freedom of choice to the person himself/herself but also to members of that family who have often been assisting in care needs for years.

As a lobbyist for people with disabilities, Naughton believes that the mindset around disability is slowly changing, "It's not about integration, it's about inclusion. I have to remind myself that I'm not an awkward customer and that other people - including those who design buildings - have to think outside the box."

Naughton, who is a wheelchair user, grew up in St Mary's Hospital and Residential School, Baldoyle, Dublin. He went to school there and later worked there, developing alternative sport and recreation activities for children with disabilities.

He moved into his own home in the early 1980s, getting informal help from the children in the area. Now he has four personal assistants who work for him on a rota basis. Their salaries are paid by the Irish Wheelchair Association.

As we sit and chat, his personal assistant, Mladen Tubic, lifts the cup of tea to his mouth on request and takes his mobile phone from his pocket when it rings. It's quite amazing to witness the smooth interaction between these two adults.

The first Centre for Independent Living in Ireland was set up in Carmichael House, North Brunswick St, Dublin in 1992, spurred on by the needs of 14 people with significant physical disabilities who wanted to live independently.

Naughton describes the resource centre as a place where "people with disabilities were encouraged to dream, to change their expectations of life and roll back the historical passive dependence often associated with disability".

There are now 27 such centres in Ireland and most of those first seekers of independence now have busy lives, mortgages, jobs and are active at different stages in improving things for people with disabilities, according to Naughton.

"Our challenge for the next decade is to widen the context of independent living to include people with learning disabilities and other types of sensory disabilities," says Naughton.