Sjálfsbjörg, the association for the disabled in Árnessýsla, was founded on November 15, 1958, at the Selfoss Cinema. The first chairman of the association was Steingrímur Ólafsson, and he served for the first two years, after which Valgerður Hauksdóttir took over as chairwoman. Initially, the association's area of operation was mainly the artists' colony of Hveragerði, Selfoss, and the surrounding area, but later its territory expanded to Árnessýsla and eventually to all of Southland. The association is one of the five oldest. Thórður Jóhannsson became chairman in the mid-1960s, and around the same time, Pálína Snorradóttir moved from Ísafjörður to Hveragerði. They worked closely together, as they were colleagues. Notice was taken of how diligent their students were in selling badges for Sjálfsbjörg. When Thórður passed away, Pálína took over as president. She advocated for each president in the association to serve for only six years at a time and considered it a good practice.

The sale of the flag and the Self-Help newspaper was the association's main activity, in addition to vocational matters. The association held, like other associations, the Self-Help national congress (in 1967) and also hosted around one hundred Norwegians who visited Iceland in 1979 and stayed in various places around Hveragerði. The association last held the Self-Help national convention in Flúðir in 2004.

On Sunday, September 19, 2004, the trails of Haukadal Forest were made accessible for the first time. Svanur Ingvarsson, who was then the chairman of Sjálfsbjörg in South Iceland, and Hreinn Óskarsson, the forester, opened the trail in the symbolic manner of sawing through a tree branch, a sign that an obstacle had been removed. The background to this initiative was somewhat romantic. Svanur and Hreinn, who was a great advocate for accessibility, lived on the same street in Hveragerði, and one day Svanur told him that he had always wanted to get out into the forest in a wheelchair. "That was the spark that ignited a fire that burned until this matter was resolved," says Pálína Snorradóttir, who again took over the presidency of the Árnessýsla chapter from Svanur and held the position during the 50th anniversary year of Sjálfsbjörg, Ltd. The Pokasjóður provided significant support for the initiative in the Haukadalur forests. Hreinn has now become the director of Hekluskógar and is already considering how to apply the extensive knowledge he gained from building the trails in Haukadalur Forest. Finding the right material for the trails, a material that would compact properly, building bridges where needed, and connecting the trails was no simple task, but this fund will be used for similar projects in the future.

In Hveragerði, Sjálfsbjörg has ensured that during the reorganization of the town's committees, representatives of people with disabilities were granted access to the committee for planning, construction, and fire protection, and were granted the right to freedom of speech and to make proposals in the committee.