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3:19am July 30, 2015

karalianne:

One thing that has always bothered me about disability service providers is how much they talk about “allowing the individuals to make choices” like it’s some magnificent thing to allow someone who has a developmental disability to decide anything for themselves. Examples of choices these people are “allowed” to make include

  • what they’re going to wear each day
  • what they’re going to eat for meals
  • when they want to bathe
  • who to hang out with
  • whether to sleep in
  • which activities to participate in at their day program

Basically all things people who do not receive these kinds of supports decide on a regular basis without even thinking about it. (And no, you can’t tell me that it’s because they have low IQ’s or something because seriously preschoolers make most of these choices by themselves without being “allowed” to do so and if you’re refusing to accept that an adult should naturally have more freedom than a small child I don’t know what to say.)

And they talk about giving the individuals “choice and control” and about “allowing” individuals to have romantic relationships and stuff like that and when you get right down to it these people (the ones receiving services) don’t actually have a whole lot of freedom. I mean, if they want to do something that’s potentially risky, their staff assess and don’t let them if it’s deemed “too risky.” (That’s never really defined, I don’t know what “too risky” actually means.)

And I am sure that most frontline staff (the people who work directly with the individuals receiving service) don’t realize how much power they have and don’t realize that their questions to make sure they understand what someone wants can end up influencing their final choices. Because we’re talking about people who are taught from a very young age that they must do what they’re told by the adults in their lives, and when they’re adults themselves that translates to doing what staff tell them to do. 

Just some random thoughts.

Notes:
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    Also, they can and do try to control any and all of those things when they think they have a good reason.
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