The Right to Make Choices: International Laws and Decision-Making by People with Disabilities
The Right to Make Choices: International Laws and Decision-Making by People with Disabilities
The Right to Make Choices: International Laws and Decision-Making by People with Disabilities
RESOURCE TYPE
Information | Guide | Tool/form
LANGUAGE
English
AUDIENCE
Caregivers | Healthcare providers | Educators | Individuals with disabilities | Family members | Advocates | Policymakers
Resource Description
Introduction: This toolkit comes from the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN). It teaches people about laws that affect how people with disabilities make choices in their lives. The toolkit helps many groups understand these laws better. This could be people with disabilities, their families, care providers, and lawmakers. It comes in two forms - one with pictures and one without - so different people can use the version that works best for them.
Resource Summary
Content Summary: The toolkit explains how people with disabilities can make choices with help from others. This is called Supported Decision-Making (SDM). It shows the difference between SDM and guardianship. Guardianship is where someone else makes choices for a person with disabilities. The toolkit uses simple words and pictures, like a comic book, to explain these ideas. The toolkit has five main parts. First, it explains what SDM means and how it works. It describes what makes a good supporter and the different ways people can help. It also shows how to fill out forms to name someone as your official supporter. Next, it talks about laws from different countries that affect how people with disabilities make choices. It looks at laws from the United States, Bulgaria, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Canada, and Israel. It also explains an important agreement called the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. The toolkit includes a word list that explains hard terms in simple ways. At the end, readers can find contact info for ASAN's policy director. People can reach out with questions or share how they plan to use the toolkit. The toolkit comes in two versions to meet different needs. The easy-to-read version has pictures and simple text. The plain-text version works well for people who use screen readers or prefer reading without pictures. Both versions share the same helpful info about making choices and laws that affect people with disabilities.