VIDEO: Ten Steps to Independent Living

by | Oct 20, 2020 | Explainer, Independent Living, Independent Living, Nonprofit, People with disabilities, Video | 0 comments

A woman's hands are putting jigsaw puzzle pieces together.
Graphical simplified map of a city with streets and colorful icons showing businesses and parks.

Jigsaw puzzles! Fast-moving steps from 1 to 10! An animated map of Gaithersburg, Maryland! Stories of growing independence!

My fifth video project of the year with Integrated Living Opportunities of Maryland was a brisk step in a new direction. ILO posted the “Putting the Pieces Together” video today on its YouTube channel.

We had a lot to say, but we wanted to keep momentum going. So after a short story that upends cliches about people with intellectual disabilities, we rattled off the ten steps to “independent living the ILO way.”

Step 9, Move Out, Settle In, was especially fun because of the animated map I created of Gaithersburg. The streets roll in, the shops, offices and park drop in. The original version with voice over was 40 seconds; we got it down to 12 lively seconds.

And what’s great is that it all holds together in a way that shows ILO’s unique and effective approach to longterm solutions to independent living for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.