Hey, so you know how the autism community tends to have an issue with people with lower support needs being abelist towards people with higher support needs?
Yeah, we need to call out ASAN for this, unfortunately.
ASAN currently has campaigns that are trying to promote the idea that we should get rid of things like guardianship and GPS tracking bands, even for people who actually need them.
It's sad to see ASAN fumble this kind of thing, since they were meant to be the opposite of Autism Speaks. But while AS has issues with neurotypical people speaking over autistic people, ASAN has an issue with lower support needs people speaking over higher support needs people.
Introduction Freedom to make choices is a human right. Adults without disabilities often take their right to make choices for granted. Adu
While guardianship can certainly be a problem, the answer is not to get rid of guardianship entirely. It would be to change the laws to minimize the risk of abuse.
What ASAN aims to do is to end guardianship entirely and replace it with "supported decision-making agreements." Which not only would not solve the issue that ASAN is trying to solve, but actively make things WORSE for people who truly need guardianship.
ASAN claims that people will be able to just simply enter an agreement with their state government on whether or not they need assistance. This is purely wishful thinking. This ignores several issues facing how the government as a whole views and treats disabled people.
Your government could still put you under a Supported Decision-Making Agreement against your will by claiming you're not mentally fit enough disagree on your own terms.
Supported Decision-Making Agreements could be put under the same conditions and restrictions as government services such as disability benefits. You could be scrutinized and denied an agreement because you're deemed to be "not disabled enough."
You can still be persuaded or forced by your abuser to enter a Supported Decision-Making Agreement with them, and your abuser can still make you unable to terminate the agreement.
Someone who is non-verbal or has an intellectual disability that makes them unable to understand the process of initiating a Supported Decision-Making Agreement will be unable to get one, since many government processes require a verbal confirmation from the person for security reasons, and someone cannot set up a Supported Decision-Making Agreement on behalf of the person. This means a non-verbal person or an intellectually disabled person with high support needs will be unable to make important medical arrangements or legal decisions.
The above also is true for someone who is physically unable to sign their agreement contract or physically unable to leave their home or even their bed.
People who have, as ASAN puts it, "mental health disabilities, dementia, and other disabilities that change how they think" (paraphrasing) can refuse a Supported Decision-Making Agreement believing that they don't need one, even though they need to live with someone who can keep them grounded in reality, keep them from canceling perscriptions or doctors appointments they need, keep them from hurting themselves or others. If they end up in a mental health crisis, because they don't have a guardian, they could end up in a psychiatric facility against their will, in prison, or killed if someone calls the police on them.
As it stands ASAN has not addressed these issues with theirSupported Decision-Making Agreement plan and how they intend to make to accessible to non-verbal people and intellectually and physically disabled people with high support needs, or to prevent someone who is not of sound mind from denying the agreement they need.
This video also highlights how important it is for people who need guardianship to have guardianship, and the restrictions that not having a guardianship can cause, and what can happen to people who need a guardianship when they don't have one.
I urge you, especially with Disability Pride Month on the horizon, to email ASAN and call them out for not considering higher support needs people and speaking on their behalf.
Let ASAN know that what they are doing excludes those with higher support needs.
