Beyond the Wheelchair: How the Access Center for Independent Living is Redefining Disability Support and Advocacy
Close your eyes and picture a person with a disability. What do you see?
When asked to visualize a person with a disability, the average person often pictures a wheelchair, a white cane, or perhaps a hearing aid. While these symbols are vital components of the disability experience, they represent only a fraction of a massive, diverse community.
The Access Center for Independent Living (ACIL) is working to broaden that perspective, moving residents of the Miami Valley Region away from a “checklist” mentality toward disability to an understanding of disability as a human spectrum. By offering a thorough list of services ranging from youth transition to systemic advocacy, ACIL is empowering individuals to achieve independence and live life to the fullest regardless of the nature of their disability.
The Five Pillars of Independent Living
At the heart of ACIL’s mission to ensure that people with disabilities have full and complete access to the community in which they reside are the five core services of Independent Living designed to provide a foundation for freedom of choice These services are not merely administrative; they are the tools through which individuals can achieve their independence.
First, Information and Referral ensures that individuals with disabilities have access to the information and tools necessary to make informed decisions about their lives. ACIL, like other CILs, serve as a central hub, offering guidance, support, and a personalized approach to information and referral for those we serve.
ACIL offers information on many different types of disability-related resources, including but not limited to:
– Accessible housing
– Educational resources
– Assistive technology
– Employment opportunities
– Transportation options
– Healthcare services
– Financial assistance
Second, ACIL emphasizes Peer Support. Recognizing that lived experience is one of the most powerful forms of empowerment, we foster a community where individuals can share challenges and successes. In 2026, we begun hosting quarterly peer socials to encourage our consumers to come together, have fun, and get to know one another in hopes that it will them overcome some of the social isolation often felt by members of the disability community. We are hopeful our peer socials will help provide our consumers with the emotional and social encouragement needed to navigate a world that is not always designed for accessibility.
Third, Independent Living Skills Training empowers individuals to learn the skills needed to achieve independence and succeed in everyday life – from gaining employment to learning to navigate community transportation systems. ACIL, like all CILs, helps people learn to help themselves – supporting them as they achieve independence.
The fourth pillar, Advocacy, operates on three levels: individual, self, and systemic. Self-Advocacy is individualized instruction to help people learn the skills needed to advocate for themselves, including understanding their rights and responsibilities. Individual Advocacy involves providing support for specific personal needs, such as contacting landlords about home accessibility modifications like grab bars or widened doorways. Systemic Advocacy is all about the efforts ACIL makes to influence local, state, and national policy and legislative changes. Breaking Silences leads the majority of systemic advocacy efforts at ACIL.
In May 2020, Maria Matzik, the Education and Advocacy Specialist at ACIL, teamed up with Dr. Julie Williams, a professor at Wright State University, to launch Breaking Silences. This group was created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the lack of emergency preparedness for individuals with disabilities. The group began meeting at the onset of the pandemic, focusing on uniting community partners to address the crisis and improve planning for future challenges. Breaking Silences is not a support group but addresses a wide range of issues relevant to individuals with disabilities, the pandemic, and its aftermath. It holds both public open meetings and private sessions exclusively for its members.
The group includes several subcommittees, such as the Breaking Silences Advocacy Committee, the Ohio Olmstead Task Force, the Ohio Nursing Crisis Advocacy Committee, and the Accommodations Subcommittee. Since its beginning, Breaking Silences and its subcommittees have achieved significant milestones, including advocating for increased wages for Direct Service Providers (DSP) and promoting the use of clearer, more accessible documentation by state agencies like Medicaid.
To view the current meeting schedule for Breaking Silences, please visit ACIL’s event calendar.
Finally, Individual Transitioning addresses one of the most significant hurdles to independence: the move from institutional settings to the community. Through programs like Ohio’s HOME Choice, ACIL assists individuals in transitioning from long-term care facilities to community-based settings, ensuring they have the support needed to thrive in the environment of their choice.
Bridging the Gap: Equipment and Education
Beyond our core services, ACIL operates the Recycled Equipment Donated for Independence (REDI) program. This initiative addresses the high cost of durable medical equipment by providing gently used items to those in need. By facilitating the donation and distribution of mobility aids and other essential tools, the REDI program directly enables people to live more independently within their communities.
Education is also a primary focus for the center. For over 20 years, ACIL has facilitated the “Think This Is Easy” (TTIE) program, an immersive disability awareness experience. Developed by ACIL staff, TTIE uses simulations to help service providers and the public understand the challenges associated with various disabilities, including cognitive, visual, speech, hearing, dexterity, mobility, and autism. By moving beyond theoretical knowledge to an experiential model, the program fosters genuine empathy and a deeper understanding of the challenges – both physical and social – that individuals with disabilities face daily.
Investing in the Future: Pre-ETS
ACIL’s impact extends to the next generation through Pre-Employment Transition Services (Pre-ETS). In partnership with Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities (OOD), ACIL provides these introductory services to students with disabilities starting at age 14.
The goal of Pre-ETS is early intervention, helping students identify career interests and develop workplace readiness before they graduate. These services are available to students who are already eligible for Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) services, as well as those who are potentially eligible but have not yet applied. By focusing on students early in their development, ACIL helps ensure that the transition from school to the workforce is a pathway to long-term independence.
Challenging the Narrative of “Disabled Enough”
Perhaps the most critical work ACIL performs is challenging how people view disability. The organization maintains that all disabilities are valid, whether they are visible or invisible, congenital or acquired later in life.
Current social standards often create an order of disability, where individuals are judged on whether they look “disabled enough” to deserve accommodations. This perspective ignores the reality that many individuals use mobility aids only occasionally, while others may have conditions that are not immediately apparent to the eye.
ACIL advocates for a shift in perspective: disability is not a competition or a checklist, but a deeply human experience. When society treats disability as a strict list of requirements rather than on a spectrum, it risks isolating millions of people who require support but do not fit a stereotype or look as society expects them to look.
A Partnership for Independence
ACIL stands as a partner for anyone navigating life with a disability. Whether an individual is seeking to move out of a nursing facility, a student is looking for their first career path, or a community member needs a piece of medical equipment, we provide a path forward.
ACIL works to reinforce the idea that every individual deserves the opportunity to live life to the fullest in the community of their choice. Those looking to partner on independent living goals or advocacy initiatives are encouraged to reach out to the center to begin their journey of empowerment.
For more information on services or to get involved, contact the Access Center for Independent Living at 937-341-5202 or via email at [email protected].