Essentially, independent living means living just like everyone else. This includes having opportunities to make decisions that affect one's life, being able to pursue activities of one's own choice and limited only to the extent that one's neighbors, who may be people without disablities, are limited.
One should not view independent living solely on the terms of living on one's own, being gainfully employed, or having an active social life. These are only aspects of independent living. Independent living means self-determination .A person with a disability must have the right and the opportunity to pursue a personal course of action. In doing so, a person with a disability should be afforded the right to fail and to learn from one's failures, just as people without disabilities do.
One should consider that there are individuals who have mental impairments which may affect their abilities to make complicated decisions and/or pursue complex actions. In these cases, independent living means having every opportunity to be as self-sufficient as possible.
This definition of independent living can be summed up in the words of the Assistant Secretary of Education for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services (OSERS), Judy Heumann. "Independent living is not doing things by yourself...it's being in control of how things get done."