About Us
We are different, combative and innovative people!
The Center for Independent Living – Sofia (CIL) is a non-governmental, non-profit organization of persons with disabilities, registered as an association for carrying out socially beneficial activity under the Law on Non-Profit Legal Entities.
CIL has been working to change the state disability policy in Bulgaria since 1995, actively advocating for the values of independent living and the implementation of the social model of disability.
Vision
A world in which people with disabilities have a choice and can live independently, with quality and with dignity.
Mission
People with disabilities should receive the support they need to achieve an independent and fulfilling human being.
Values
We belong to universal values, which are guided by the human’s ethics code.
Independent Living
“Independent living” means people with disabilities to have the same choices and control in their daily lives as people without disabilities.
Above all, “Independent living” means opportunities for real choice and control. Not to “choose” whether to accept or reject the only thing the state has to offer, but to choose between different alternatives, between different social practices.
For the parents of a disabled child, this means:
- be able to choose whether or not their children remain educated (at home or in a special school);
- to study with their neighbors and girlfriends in the neighborhood school – which is accessible, however, and where their child will receive the needed specialized support.
For a disabled adult this means:
- to choose whether to be an eligible client or a patient without opinion on the organization of his or her own life;
- to choose whether to work in a general environment and be paid for a decent living, or to appear as a “dead soul” in the establishment plan of the specialized enterprise’s schemes;
- to choose whether to use social services or to consume social benefits;
- to choose whether to be a citizen with equal rights and responsibilities, or to be a beggar for the authorities.
Social model
The social model of disability is a major tool for the socio-political critique of the life situation of people with disabilities. To fulfill this critical function, the social model usually opposes the so-called “medical model” of disability. The two models present two fundamentally different ways of thinking and acting in the field of disability.
According to the social model:
- Disability is a difference in culture and gender.
- Disability issues are rooted in inaccessible physical and social environments.
- The solution to the problem is to change the environment and society (by making it more accessible), not to change the person.
According to the medical model:
- Disability is an anomaly, something unwanted and abnormal.
- Disability is an individual problem.
- The solution is to cure the disability.
- Only professionals (doctors, psychologists, rehabilitators, etc.) can help people with disabilities.
In short, opposition between the social and medical models is a valuable tool that enables people with disabilities and their organizations to be critical.
Equality
Equality is to ensure that every individual has an equal opportunity to live his own life to the best and get advantage of his talent. It is also the belief that no one should have a poorer chance of living regarding his birthplace nationality, religion and handicap. Equality acknowledges that historically the groups of people with protected characteristics such as race, disability, gender and sexual orientation have experienced discrimination.
People with disabilities have the equal rights as all members of society. The social model of disability implies that barriers, negative attitudes and exclusion from society are the real determinants of disability.
Who are we?
Board of Directors of the Center for Independent Living
Project Team
