Sweden

This article illustrates the Swedish experiences of working with people with intellectual disabilities and their support. During the last three decades in Sweden residential institutions have been dissolved and community‐based services have been developed. People's lives have changed dramatically. The beginning of this development was marked by the implementation of a new socio‐political idea: the normalisation principle, which was introduced in 1946. The realisation of this principle through four Acts of Parliament goes along with a shift between the institutional and the community‐based traditions of support, with deinstitutionalisation as the logical consequence for development. Nowadays, people with disabilities in Sweden are well aware of their right to participate in community life. They are encouraged to use services offered to the general public, which therefore need to be made available for everybody, while special services become supplementary.