People with disabilities are the largest minority in the world. The right to live an independent life is an inalienable right in modern societies and is one of the founding aims of the IB. The IB therefore regards the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities as the basis of our demand to abolish all barriers in every-day life in order to grant all people equal rights and self-determined participation in social and economic life. People with disabilities face pervasive discrimination. Barriers in urban infrastructures (barriers in streets, buildings and public transport), in language usage, in educational systems and last but not least in the heads of the majority of society are well-known examples. Even today there are very few children with disabilities who attend regular schools. The IB therefore demands the abolition of all harming barriers in the environment of every single person and in our society in general. All of our activities and offers aim to make inclusion the reality for everyone. We want diversity to be recognised and honoured everywhere. We have expressed the way we understand inclusion in our guidelines called ‘Support to People with Disabilities’ that strictly follows the basic principles and the statute of the Internationaler Bund (IB). Individual development, self-determination and self-expression are focal points of our work. As a consequence, all IB pedagogical projects are guided by the basic concepts of empowerment und inclusion.
The IB defines the free choice of profession as an essential aspect of a self-determined life. Our experts support people with disabilities and offer professional career guidance. According to the guiding principle ‘as normal as possible and with as much support as necessary‘, the IB primarily focuses on jobs in the first labour market. Our strong local networks with the private sector and the vocational training market are an essential key to the success of this activity. Supporting people with disabilities during the application process, special employability and job preparation courses, vocational training (in the company with support or in special IB workshops and modular vocational trainings with reference to the job), further vocational training (re-training, preparation courses for external exams, special further qualification on the job) are a collection of the available measures. All the measures described above are tailored to the personal preconditions, the individual disability and the professional focus of the person affected. The IB vocational training centres are linked to the local labour market and the local network of support so that all the necessary support systems (e.g. youth offices, job centres, etc.) are easily available. We consciously create the contents and the actual performance of our courses in very close connection to the local companies so that the transfer into the first labour market is prepared in the most efficient way.
Freely choosing a life style is an essential part of a self-determined life. There are a variety of possible life styles that allow great freedom regarding independence, security, self-determination and operating range irrespective of the type of disability, age and gender. The protection of a person’s or a family’s quality of life depends on the support of friends and relatives as well as on external professional support concerning daily life requirements. The IB offers sheltered accommodation in homes, special groups or single flats. We offer support services for people with disabilities who are looking for accommodation or who have to adjust existing accommodation according their individual need.
Our support comprises all aspects of a disabled person’s life. Social-pedagogical support can either take place in special facilities or in the families or homes. The IB offers support measures for all daily life requirements.
