Category: Blog

On fruits of labour

Earlier this week I was in a workshop to learn, share, discuss disability rights and policies in the EU, with special attention to deinstitutionalisation. The message I brought was quite simple: Policies matter, and they have direct impact on people. It can take (scratch that – it takes) many years.It can be hard to see.(And […]

Writing

I wrote 19 football articles the past half year. I have 3 things I learned through it, useful in my work. And yours, if you’re in anything that involves telling people about your work. 1. Commitment After game 1, I decided to write about every game I’d be in. 19 games later, that’s what I […]

DI is not a rocket science

Global Disability Summite, Berlin, April 2025 As organisations of people with intellectual disabilities, and other advocates, we spend a lot of time demanding deinstitutionalisation.We also need to give time to working with those who make it happen. It’s about demonstrating to those responsible that deinstitutionalisation is doable.It has been done.It is being done.It can and […]

So this just happened

We are at a “diversity and inclusion” event organised by what is considered an elite European institution.Speakers say “diversity” and “inclusion” a lot. Nobody mentions people with disabilities (except when Disability Rights Strategy is listed), unless I missed something. Towards the end, my colleague asks about disability policies, and the next question is about disability […]

“How to change things when change is hard”

Hey Milan, would you recommend any books on deinstitutionalisation, I was asked recently. And sure enough, I shared some reading I find useful and interesting. But I didn’t mention the two books that I consider the most important, and use almost daily in my work. Neither of them is about deinstitutionalisation. But both are. Take […]

European Commission’s Guidance on independent living and inclusion in the community

Today (11/12/2024), I had the pleasure to open a seminar on Guidance on independent living and inclusion in the community of persons with disabilities in the context of EU funding. The European Commission document is an important step in promoting the right of people with disabilities to live independently and to be included in their communities. […]

Opožděně do výroční ankety

Promeškal jsem příležitost přispět v anketě, kterou ke svým narozeninám a hlavně ke dni lidských práv, uspořádalo JDI. Na svou obhajobu uvádím, že jsem byl v předmětném období dost zaneprázdněn, především věcmi, které by JDI měly být po chuti. Bylo by ovšem nespravedlivé, aby vás tyto okolnosti připravily o mé odpovědi. Pojďme tedy na otázky, které JDI […]