In this article we consider the concept of “independent life” for people with disabilities, and attempts to implement the idea in Norway and Poland, especially in relation to the employment of people with disabilities. Assistant services appear to be so crucial in this regard that they are mentioned in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (the CRPD, adopted on December 13, 2006). However, the organization of such services in these countries reveals strains resulting in part from misconceptions of what it means to have a disability and what is meant by “independent living.”