Bengt Nirje on Normalization

Bengt Nirje: The principle is all these facets. It's not just a phrase. The principle means that you have to use all these eight aspects to look at the person and the situation of a person to see what might be missing. That's how it could be used. And it then can be used as an instrument for the individual person. You can put yourself instead in the person's place and see what is it that makes things different, different, not normal. What doesn't… what is needed?

Take a step back and I think about what would a normal situation be and then in what direction to try to find the answer or to try to accomplish and then you discuss what are the means to do this. So it's an instrument to understand. Really, the principle of normalization is the point of your life seen from the mind of the disabled. So many people with cerebral palsy and someone physically handicapped would say, Oh, that's our point of view. That's okay [Inaudible]. [Inaudible]. Another point of view is this has been used increasingly inside a parts of Germany in the women's lib movement because they realize that we're human beings, both men and women.