The Right to a Home of Your Own: Deinstitutionalisation and Independent Living

Welcome to The Right to Ordinary, an Inclusion Ireland podcast. In this episode, host Derval McDonagh, CEO of Inclusion Ireland, turns to housing – the right to a home of your own, and why this most ordinary of things remains out of reach for so many people with an intellectual disability in Ireland. Derval is joined by Paul Alford, Self-Advocacy Project Worker at Inclusion Ireland and one of the organisation’s longest-serving staff members, who shares his own story in his own words. Paul spent thirty-two and a half years living in an institution before moving into a home of his own in 2016. From negotiating his own mortgage and choosing his own support worker, to booking a solo holiday to China without asking permission first, Paul’s story is a powerful, often funny, testament to what independent living really means: choice, control and the right to make your own decisions. Advocacy Project Worker Fiachra O’Connor then joins Derval to unpack what’s really standing in the way of people with an intellectual disability finding a home of their own – from the lack of a clear, transparent housing list process, to the common misconception that independent living means living entirely alone. Fiachra also shares his own family’s experience of planning ahead for his sister’s future, and what families and self-advocates can do to start that conversation today. THINGS WE SPOKE ABOUT Paul’s thirty-two and a half years living in an institution, and what daily life was like there Fighting to get redress money paid back, and choosing his own bank Buying his own one-bedroom apartment in Navan, Co. Meath, and taking out a mortgage with the help of Possibilities Interviewing and picking his own support worker The first difficult weeks and months after moving out, and how he built a life in his community GUEST DETAILS Paul Alford Self-Advocacy Project Worker at Inclusion Ireland, and the organisation’s longest-serving staff member with over 20 years’ service. Paul grew up in institutional care and spent thirty-two and a half years living in an institution before moving into a home of his own in 2016. He now gives talks across the country about his experience, disabled people’s rights and independent living, and is a champion for deinstitutionalisation and community living. | inclusionireland.ie Fiachra O’Connor Advocacy Project Worker at Inclusion Ireland. Fiachra is a sibling of a person with an intellectual disability and works on campaigns and advocacy projects that challenge systemic ableism and push for a more equal society. | inclusionireland.ie Derval McDonagh (Host) CEO of Inclusion Ireland, Ireland’s national advocacy organisation for people with intellectual disabilities and their families. Derval leads Inclusion Ireland’s work to campaign for human rights, challenge inequality and support people to live full, ordinary lives in their communities. | inclusionireland.ie QUOTES They said I wouldn’t be able to live on my own. And I said, ‘Look at me now. - Paul Alford No one knows how many accounts you have and what’s in your account, because that’s your own business. - Paul Alford It’s our voices, our choices. Nothing about us without us. - Paul Alford Independent living doesn’t, by definition, mean that you’re living alone. - Fiachra O’Connor A house is so much more than bricks and mortar; it is so fundamental to all of us. - Derval McDonagh KEYWORDS #InclusionIreland #TheRightToOrdinary #IndependentLiving #Deinstitutionalisation #IntellectualDisability #HumanRights #Disability #HousingRights #CommunityLiving #SelfAdvocacy