Way late for this party, but I’d like to say that when you see a disabled person living “independently”, there is usually an army of support behind him/her that allows that to happen. My niece drives a car, lives in her own apartment, has a bank account and credit card, and holds a very low-level government job. People always comment about how wonderful it is that she can be so independent. Nothing could be further from the truth. They don’t see the meltdowns over a birthday party, the trail of totaled cars, the many hours of financial oversight that is provided by her legal guardians, the mountains of paperwork that have to be completed every year for the courts to allow continued guardianship, or the really hard fucking work it takes so that she can appear “independent” to other people. It’s exhausting and has been dutifully accomplished for the past 50+ years by my sister and her other siblings.