Self-Determined Living Association.

SelbstBestimmt Leben eV is an association of people with different disabilities.

We are part of the autonomous disability movement in Germany, which has been working since the late 1970s to ensure that disabled people can lead a self-determined life without paternalism, disadvantage, exclusion and discrimination.

On these pages you can learn more about the association, its advice center and its other activities.

Furthermore, we provide information here that is of particular interest to people with disabilities in Bremen, such as event tips or information on topics that frequently arise in our consultations. And we want to keep you informed about current political issues that are of particular concern to us – click through!

The advice center

The "Self-Determined Living" advice center has been in operation since 1986. Since then, we have been advising people with disabilities and their families, primarily on various issues

• of disability and social law,
• the care and assistance organization,
• housing procurement and design,
• of working and professional life
• dealing with one's own disability in a disabled-hostile environment.

Furthermore, we advise disabled people independently of the cost and service providers on all questions relating to the (cross-provider) personal budget.

We offer peer counseling. This means, above all:

The advisors themselves have disabilities. Therefore, they can more easily empathize with and understand many problems related to disability than non-disabled people.

The advisors give those seeking advice tips, but not recommendations on what might be good for them. They help them to figure that out for themselves. They support and encourage them to pursue and achieve their self-set goals.

The individual consultations are free of charge. They are complemented by other forms of support related to counselling, such as the preparation and implementation of personal future planning or further training opportunities for people with disabilities, but also for employees of services and institutions for people with disabilities.

You can find out more at the advice center. We also offer training courses on the topic of (cross-provider) personal budgets for both people with disabilities and employees of disability support facilities.

Political engagement

People are not born disabled, they are made disabled by society. The problems people face due to their impairments are always rooted in societal conditions. To improve these conditions for us, we actively engage in disability policy. High-profile campaigns and participation in political bodies are key components of our advocacy work for people with disabilities.

Get involved!

Self-help, self-advocacy, and solidarity are important to us. In this spirit, we also want to invite disabled people who do not (yet) feel they belong to our group, but who share our goals, to get involved.

For example, at FORUM BARRIEREFREIES BREMEN, a working group of disabled people for construction, housing and transport, which is supported by us.

Office hours:

Mondays: 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Tuesdays: 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Wednesdays: 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Thursdays: 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM