Online Workshop – Supported Decision-Making

Allowing Individuals with Disabilities to Make Choices

Imagine having your capacity to make decisions, sign contracts, vote, defend your rights in court, or choose medical treatments taken away simply because you have a disability. For many persons with disabilities, this is a fact of life, and the consequences can be grave. When individuals lack the legal capacity to act, they are not only robbed of their right to equal recognition before the law, they are also robbed of their ability to defend and enjoy other human rights. Guardians and tutors acting on behalf of persons with disabilities sometimes fail to act in the interests of the individual they are representing; worse, they sometimes abuse their positions of authority, violating the rights of others.