ABSTRACT
The literature on care contains debates about the nature of care and dependency, the power dynamics between carers and the cared-for, and the changing political contexts of care services, policies, and funding. Such debates play a crucial role in advancing the civil rights of people requiring support with daily living activities. Nevertheless, people who require daily personal assistance still have to negotiate their support and participation in a largely disablist world. Despite dependency being an inevitable part of everyday life, autonomy remains the celebrated ideal and most of life still occurs in physical and social contexts which assume or privilege able-bodiedness. While acknowledging this broader context, this chapter hones in on the practices of one young Australian woman who creatively traverses the inherent complexities of self-managed support, using an approach implicitly infused with an ethic of care, as she navigates her transition to adulthood.
