Supportive Decision-Making May Be a Reality in Some States, But We Still Have a Long Way to Go By Jason Hahr


Image of Bill from the television show Schoolhouse Rock


Another week is beginning here at The Voiceless Minority. We hope you had a restful, enjoyable weekend. Now it’s back to the advocacy grindstone. Near the end of last week, we focused on several topics, including AI chatbots and their potential to assist people with autism. We also focused on an initiative put together by Wells Fargo Bank to change the way corporate America thinks about disability. Today, our focus is on something a little different.

Last October, Disability Scoop shared an article that was first published in the Portland Press Herald. The article explored the notion that individuals under guardianship frequently lack access to legal counsel. The article defined guardianship for a person with a disability as the legal process that gives someone authority to make decisions for another person, often someone who has an intellectual or developmental disability. In most cases, it’s a parent seeking guardianship of a child once they reach adulthood, but there are many instances in which unrelated individuals are appointed guardians by the state.

The article examined over 2000 cases in Maine, in which legal counsel represented less than 23 percent of people with disabilities. However, the authors of the article do more than just present facts and figures. They highlight an alternative to guardianship, supportive decision-making. 

Supported decision making (SDM) is a process that empowers individuals to make their own life choices with the support of trusted individuals, rather than having decisions made on their behalf by others. SDM, unlike guardianship, allows individuals to take control over their own lives and acknowledge that we all need help sometimes. 

When I first read this article, it immediately got me thinking about my situation, as well as that of one of my family members. To the best of my knowledge, I am not under guardianship, fortunately. I am still trusted enough to make my own decisions about most aspects of my life. However, I know many friends and relatives who are not as fortunate. I believe that the work we are doing in Florida to promote supportive decision-making has come a long way, thanks to the hard work of advocates like my acquaintance, Michael McCreight, who fought for a supportive decision-making bill that is now state law.

I will put a link to the bill at the bottom of this post. Thank you, Michael, for your hard work. However, there is much more work to be done. What we are doing in Florida can be duplicated, and hopefully, one day, supportive decision-making will replace adult guardianships altogether. 

Until next time, your friendly neighborhood, fired-up, super advocate, Jay.


Resources: https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2024/10/22/adults-in-guardianships-often-never-receive-legal-counsel/31125/


Florida Bar article on supportive decision-making bill passing legislature: https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-news/supported-decision-making-bill-for-people-with-developmental-disabilities-clears-the-legislature/


Florida Bill HB73



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sad Times in Ocala, Florida Reflect Overall Poor Treatment of The Disabled Community in America Today

 The movie-going experience has been part of American life for decades now. At the same time, being disabled has also been a part of the human experience since the beginning of time. This piece will address the idea that although we are thirty-four years into the ADA era, movie theaters in Ocala, Florida, demonstrate how little respect people with disabilities have earned in thirty-four years. Over the weekend, I was treating my friend/caregiver, who I will call Jane, on a trip to the movies for her 24 th birthday. She was nice enough to not only drive my van for only the 10 th time since she started working with me but also because my power wheelchair broke several weeks ago and there was a delay in the delivery process of my new chair; she was willing to push me around. The first of many problems we encountered that day occurred when we got to the front door. It was only then we noticed that even though disabled people do go to places by themselves without caregivers or atten...
Read more

Life Behind the Camera: Observing the Neurotypical World from the Autism Spectrum By: Michelle Zeman

Image
  Imagine that you are a photographer covering a story. You aren't the story's subject - your only purpose is to zoom in, adjust the settings, and click the button. The subject(s) of the photo are the story - they know what to expect and how to respond given the situation. However, you're not in the picture as the photographer - you're just observing. You aren't asked to be in the photo, let alone be involved in the story, outside of clicking the button. You see the final image, and you publish it online, and when people see it, they comment on the people within the photo and the event that occurred. That is what life is like from my perspective of being on the Autism spectrum - I am on the outside looking into neurotypical life.   Growing up, I didn't have many friends. In elementary school, I went to a Christian school. You would be incorrect if you think a Christian school is different from a public school in terms of how friendships are created. There w...
Read more

The Movie “Conclave” Makes Me Rethink the Concept of Acceptance and How It Applies to My Own Life: By Jason Hahr

This post comes with a note to readers. This may or may not make complete sense. This post comes from a perspective of being stuck in my head. As much as I use this blog to teach and inform, this time, I am using it as a therapy tool as well. When I ask you, the readers, a question, please know that I am questioning you and my own subconscious. Now that I have said all of that, here we go. Initially, I was going to write a post about a movie I recently saw called “Conclave.” On the surface, the film has nothing to do with disability or disability-related issues. Still, if one looks deeper, one can see that the movie is about both self-acceptance and being accepted by others. I will not go into the movie's plot because, like I said, this is not a film review. I only reference it because it got me thinking. For eleven years now, I’ve been an outspoken voice for The Voiceless Minority, of which I am a member. However, I wonder if I have been an adequate advocate for people with disabi...
Read more