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Making Independence Easier

Terry Lynch specializes in helping older people remain as self-reliant and involved in community life as possible, and helping caregiving family members maintain the quality of their own lives.

Terry has been advancing the independent living cause since 1977, when he served as assistant to the Director of the White House Conference on individuals with disabilities. He then managed a federal disability rights program and had a key role in developing what is now the National Disability Rights Network.

Terry left Washington, D.C. in 1985 to establish his speaking and consulting business in Racine, Wisconsin. He soon began living his work. Terry helped his mother remain at home for the next ten years, in spite of significant medical problems and a memory disorder that stole her ability to manage daily life.

Through this illuminating personal experience and his work with other families, Terry learned that we have more control over the quality of our lives as we age than we realize, and how we can maintain this control.

Terry’s book, “But I Don’t Want Eldercare!” - Helping Your Parents Stay as Strong as They Can as Long as They Can, will be published during the fall of 2008 by The Legal Center, Denver, Colorado. His essay on making informed long-term care decisions is featured on the web site of the PBS documentary, “Almost Home”.

Terry is actively involved in state and national efforts to reshape long-term care and expand self-directed services. He is a member of the Racine County Commission on Aging and a state alliance dedicated to elevating the status, wages, and benefits of direct care workers.

Terry currently serves on the Executive Council of AARP-Wisconsin. In 2006, Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle appointed Terry to the state Board on Aging and Long-Term Care.