The conference took place a year ago, when the law on "After Us" was still new and raised many questions. It coincided with the twentieth and thirtieth anniversaries of two ANFFAS group homes in Lombardy. Those questions haven't entirely disappeared—far from it.
Yet this brief text has real value. It tackles the "After Us" question by starting with what was already being done before the law passed, and what continues to operate with respect for and constant attention to the dignity of those who live there. It should be useful reading for parents and friends of people with disabilities—especially intellectual disabilities—who are trying to imagine alternatives to institutionalization. For those who won't settle for leaving their loved one at home with a caregiver, and who are looking for meaningful measures of quality: not just health and assistance, but also education and social inclusion. The group home, as the authors explain in their essays, can offer certain people with disabilities a genuinely better way of life.
Autonomy and freedom, understood as the ability to do what one wants or likes… are not always possible. For someone with intellectual disability, they often risk becoming impractical and misleading.
Cristina Tersigni, 2017