Kontakt X:X | DOI: 10.32725/kont.2026.017

Striving for autonomy: the transition of persons with disabilities from family to independent lifeSocial Sciences in Health - Original article

Martina Hrozenská * ORCID..., Nina Rakovická
Comenius University, Faculty of Education, Department of Social Work, Bratislava, Slovak Republic

Aim: Identify the most problematic situations that people with disabilities have had to deal with in becoming independent, and highlight the structural challenges and barriers they encounter in the process of becoming independent from their original family. Theoretical base: The philosophy of independent living for people with disabilities means equal opportunities. Physical disability or any health disability should not be an obstacle to living life according to one's own wishes.

Methods: The problematic situations that people with disabilities had to deal with were identified based on an analysis of interviews with five deliberately selected participations in middle adulthood.

Results: People with disabilities want to live independently and have control over their own lives with the help of services and technologies that compensate for their functional deficits. From the perspective of people with disabilities, it was important to determine which tasks they could handle on their own and, at the same time, to be aware of which tasks were challenging for them.

Conclusion: A secure family environment and support from friends, acquaintances, colleagues, and neighbours are an important part of a supportive system that complements institutional support from the state. Accessible and architecturally adapted housing creates the conditions for independent living, and the main motivation for choosing it is the desire for maximum independence and control over one's own life.

Keywords: Independence; Independent living; Persons with disabilities
Conflicts of interest:

The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

Received: August 4, 2025; Revised: February 5, 2026; Accepted: March 9, 2026; Prepublished online: March 27, 2026 

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