I Chose  to live with people with disabilities for three years in North Carolina. It was the single best decision of my life. Through that experience I learned that people with disabilities are not a “population “to be served but rather part of humanity. I learned that only by sharing a bathroom,  by sitting around the table and sharing dinner, by brushing teeth, by doing chores in tandem. I learned  through helping folks with wheelchairs up the ramp. I learned through hard conversations and behavioral support within our home. One of the most important ways to continue to break down the power dynamics that exist between people with and without disabilities is for those people to live together as friends as housemates, as roommates as family. The majority of people with disabilities only interact with paid staff. Paid relationships that only serve the other are not long lasting or empowering. We must continue to blur these lines in order for there to be less neglect, less abuse, and less errors within the world of disability. It is when those lines are blurred (appropriately with healthy boundaries)that everyone is treated with respect and care and dignity and given autonomy to make their own choices in the world.