[Excerpt] I want to suggest that differences in the attitudinal and material conditions determine disabled peoples’ life opportunities, how dependent or independent we can become. I am not claiming that anyone – disabled or non-disabled - can be completely independent. As human beings we all are inter-dependent on each other. My point is that persons with the exact same disabilities can have completely different lives depending on where they live. In some countries there are policies and attitudes that allow us to develop and follow our interests, get education and work, meet friends, marry and have children. In other countries, we may be confined to living in institutions, with little contact with the outside world, with no or only simple work.