Michaela Schadeck was born with spastic paralysis and lives her life in a wheelchair. She has been working for inclusion for people with disabilities in Heidelberg and the surrounding area for over 25 years. Since then, a lot has happened in the region and nationwide. But clearly we don't yet live in a completely inclusive society. How do we make the "Inclusion" project a success?

I ring the doorbell of the row house at adress, "Schadeck." Shortly after, the lock buzzes open. The apartment door in the ground floor apartment is already open, an automatic lock-which, activated by a remote control. A voice sounds from inside, inviting me in. Inside in front of the door sits Michaela Schadeck in her wheelchair, and greets me with a friendly smile. She is the managing director of the "Individualhilfe für Schwerbehinderte", the Individual Aid for the Severely Disabled, where she has been a member of the board since 1995, and has been working for the rights of people with disabilities and their inclusion in society ever since.

Whether through the association or in politics, where she advised politicians and administrators of the city of Heidelberg on inclusion issues between 2009 and 2014, as chairwoman of the Advisory Council of People with Disabilities. Since the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities came into force in 2009, much has changed in the public sphere. Many buildings are now barrier-free, and public transport has become more accessible thanks to low-floor buses or automatically folding bus ramps. But a low-floor bus is useless if the curb is not high enough, and toilets suitable for wheelchairs are of little use if no one knows where they are. Socially, too, there is still much to be done. The major project "inclusion" still has a long way to go. For Ms. Schadeck, the basis for equal participation of a person with disabilities is their self-determination. Her association Individualhilfe helps people with physical disabilities to lead a self-determined, independent life. In other words: You decide for yourself how you want to be helped. Schadeck's own assistance was just not in the apartment. In the afternoon, she is absent for about three and a half hours, entirely by appointment. "It's different for every client - depending on their needs." Now we are sitting in her living room, at the dinner table. The coffee table next to it is full of chocolate-filled Easter baskets, because tomorrow, over the Easter weekend, she's going to visit her family back home: the Swabian town of Krumbach in Bavaria.For inclusion in public spaces, legal regulations are already on the right track, says Schadeck, where the only things that are often missing are funds for the necessary infrastructure and funding programs. For successful inclusion on a social level, however, commitment of a different kind would be needed. In an interview in December 2014, Schadeck said that perhaps in 20 years the "inclusion" project could be successful, "because by then the children we can work on today will be grown up." Looking back almost 10 years later, she says not much has happened, but the focus remains on starting with children as early as possible and enabling them to grow up together, such as by reducing the number of students in special schools, which can often be exclusionary.

To contribute to an inclusive society as individuals, she says to stay alert, to be able to spot when people with disabilities need support, to talk to them when the opportunity presents itself, and to not be afraid to make disability a topic. Parents should stop telling their children "don't stare at them!" or "don't ask that!" when they ask about people with disabilities. The topic should never be treated as taboo, and above all should not always be taken so seriously, but also with a bit of humor.