I hope you enjoy the article and I look forward to any comments you may have, by posting them in the comments function at the end of this article.
People with Disabilities cannot make their own decisions they need to have someone else do that for them.
In some cases this is true but the reason I say this is because people with disabilities may not have learned or been taught how to make their own decisions. We learn how to make decisions because someone taught us how to make decisions.
To make an informed decision, we need to learn, be taught or research information – surrounding what it is that we want to make a decision on. This could be:
- buying something
- choosing where we will go on a holiday
- where we will live
- who we will live with
- making medical decisions based on how those decisions will impact our lives.
In the past, governments felt disabled people didn't have the required mental capacity to make decisions about their lives. They preferred legal, medical and other professionals to make these decisions and didn't consider the parents', guardians' or clients' choices. Wikipedia “Scientists and Psychologist” refer to "the process of thought" as Cognition.
People with disabilities are capable of choosing what food they like and dislike. They may like certain activities when playing. This is evidence that they can choose what they want to do. If they are given the opportunity and taught communication skills suited to their abilities, they can contribute to the community and help society learn more about what their wants and needs are.
The Disabilities Standards 3 – Decision Making and Choices states Each person with a disability has the opportunity to participate as fully as possible in making decisions about the events and activities of his or her daily life in relation to the services he or she receives.
The Disability Standards is a law upheld by the Australian Government that all Australians should comply to.
No comments:
Post a Comment