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During the 1970's people with disabilities and their friends and families started a "Civil Rights for People with Disabilities" movement, also called the Disability Rights Movement. These activists asked for "community inclusion" and "consumer choice" for people with disabilities. They argued that people with disabilities should be just as close to their neighbors and community as anyone else. They also said the person with a disability (the consumer) should be the person who decides what services she wants to help her become part of that community. The person with the disability should be the decision-maker.

This new philosophy was the beginning of person centered values, and it turned out to have some unexpected benefits. People who got to make choices and become parts of their community often got better jobs and ended up needing FEWER supports than before. They were happier, more active, and had more friends to help them out. There were real benefits for "doing the right thing".

 As the disability rights movement grew, it's members started demanding more. They insisted that cities and towns remove physical barriers that made public places "inaccessible" for people with disabilities. They insisted that lawmakers pass laws to remove legal barriers that let employers discriminate against people with disabilities through low wages or not hiring them. Some activists insisted that the sheltered workshops, mini-institutions, and nursing homes should shut down so people in them could live and work in "normal" ways.

 The disability rights movement changed the system of rehabilitation care. A new type of staff worker appeared - the "advocate" - to help people with disabilities understand their choices and responsibilities. Disability rights activists created community-based "Independent Living Centers" - places in the community where people with disabilities could get help from advocates and peer counselors (other people with disabilities) about how to live on their own. People began moving out of the mini-institutions and into regular apartments and houses. Vocational rehabilitation staff focused more on "integrated" jobs where someone with a disability worked with "non-disabled" coworkers instead of sheltered workshop situations, and where they earned at least minimum wage.

 The care system is still changing towards being a consumer controlled system. Staff members, advocates, disability rights activists, and people with disabilities are all working to remove physical and "attitudinal" barriers that stand in the way. Gradually they are spreading the idea of freedom for all people to take part in life's activities, no matter what disability they have and no matter how severe. After all, they point out, we all have accidents, we all grow old - even the "non-disabled" are only temporarily able.

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