These are some things that people with an intellectual disability in our community have said about supported decision making.
Important information like this helped us make our supported decision making resources.
“Information needs to be broken down into Easy Read or easier ways to understand so we can make the right and safe decisions, especially with legal things. A lot of the documents can be very overwhelming.”
“We are here to tell you what we need. Listen to us and the goals we want to achieve and how we need help to achieve our goals.”
“Sometimes I feel powerless when I get told what to do, e.g., from my parents.”
“When it comes to my NDIS, I do not have a say. I would like more say. I understand my plan, but I don’t have a lot to do with it. I sometimes like the things my mum organises for me.”
“Sometimes I make decisions about my NDIS. I make decisions about my goals. I don’t make decisions about the actual services I get. I am plan managed. I say what kind of service I want such as OT, SP, PT, but I am not part of the organisation of it. I usually will just be told I have an appointment.”
“I would like to be more involved. I have no control on who takes me out, but I do have control about where I want to go or what I want to do.”
“Government services should listen to us. Hear what we have to say – we want to be more involved in decisions about us.”
“We want services to talk about the decision together and explain different sides if there isn’t an agreement.”
“We want people to take the time to talk to me and time to help me understand – don’t dumb it down and don’t baby talk. Just explain in simple terms.”
“Information should be given in more than one way. Information should be adaptive and accessible, e.g., easy read, language, braille, text to voice.”
You can learn more about our supported decision making resources here.