Personal assistance at work: the Visual Assistance Service in Taiwan

'Personal assistance' is a key to equal and full participation by disabled people in society. In Taiwan, there are services provided to 'care for' disabled people, but not to support them at work. In view of this, a pilot scheme called the 'Visual Assistant Service' was developed in 2003. This study explores how the visually impaired users, project workers and Visual Assistants viewed the service. The findings show that this service has improved visually impaired workers' sense of control at work and reduced their enforced dependence on their informal support networks. However, users had little control over the way the services were provided. This reveals a lack of full understanding by professionals with regard to the western ideas of 'personal assistance' and the independent living movement.