Independent living is considered to be a fundamental human right, but throughout history it was often denied to people with disabilities, specifically to people with intellectual disabilities. In resistance to that kind of policy the independent living movement was born which points out that every peerson has equal opportunities in terms of independent living. This movement directs attention to the premise that the so ci ety should facilitate independent living of people with disabilities eliminating the barr iers which people with disabilities encounter. The efforts of activists in the independent living field materialized in 2006 in the form of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which, in its Article 19 emphasizes independent living as one of the rights od people with disabilities. The aim of this paper is to represent his torical and scientifically based facts collected from numerous international and domestic literary sources on the subject of independent living of perso ns with intellectual disabilities. Throughout this literature review, many new topics related to the broader issue of independent living of people with intellectual disabilities crystallized, and several suggestions on bettering the current situation in th e field are offered in the conclusion.