Rehabilitating the handicapped

States should ensure the provision of rehabilitation services to persons with disabilities in order for them to reach and sustain their optimum level of independence and functioning. States should develop national rehabilitation programmes for all groups of persons with disabilities. Such programmes should be based on the actual individual needs of persons with disabilities and on the principles of full participation and equality. Such programmes should include a wide range of activities, such as basic skills training to improve or compensate for an affected function, counselling of persons with disabilities and their families, developing self-reliance, and occasional services such as assessment and guidance. All persons with disabilities, including persons with severe and/or multiple disabilities, who require rehabilitation should have access to it. Persons with disabilities and their families should be able to participate in the design and organization of rehabilitation services concerning themselves. All rehabilitation services should be available in the local community where the person with disabilities lives. However, in some instances, in order to attain a certain training objective, special time-limited rehabilitation courses may be organized, where appropriate, in residential form. Persons with disabilities and their families should be encouraged to involve themselves in rehabilitation, for instance as trained teachers, instructors or counsellors. States should draw upon the expertise of organizations of persons with disabilities when formulating or evaluating rehabilitation programmes.