Helping one another: a speculative history of the self-help movement

The Independent Living Movement represents a direct challenge to current notions of rehabilitation (see the article by Gerben DeJong in this issue). It is a unique challenge, spearheaded not by new technical advances but by a new social awareness, and not from within by medical personnel but from without by lay groups. In another sense, however, it is but the latest evolution of an old theme in American life--the notion of self-help. This paper traces the history of self-help, to illuminate the problems and prospects of the Independent Living Movement.