5. Personal Assistance

PA

Some disabled people may need some personal assistance to enable them to take part in the daily life of the community. Disabled People need a range of personal assistance services that will give them choice and control over their lives. Independent Living is often confused just with a direct payments scheme where disabled people receive money to employ their own personal assistants rather than rely on social services staff or residential provision. Whilst this is an important part of having life choice for disabled people, Direct Payments are a complex provision. They have specific rules; depend on variable budgets and subjective assessments. Employing a personal assistant requires an individual to be both an employer and yet is also reliant on the support and communication of that assistant; they need to be honest and able to build a relationship that is not co-dependent. Therefore disabled people need to be able to access services that both support and inform their working relationships with Personal Assistants.