Choice is an essential part of life. Everyone has the right to choose what they want and what they don’t want. As a person who experiences a disability, I sometimes feel those choices carry a larger impact on my day-to-day life. For example, although I have the right to receive supports and services, it is also a choice. If I didn’t choose to have my supports and services, my ability to be as independent as I am would be severely diminished. Without information about the supports and services available, how can we be expected to make choices on these very important life decisions?
In this article, I asked self-advocates Dayna Davis and Eric Thompson, “What does it mean to have informed choice when it comes to planning your supports and services?”
Eric Thompson is a self-advocate in Medford, Oregon who is passionate about his work with the Oregon Self Advocacy Coalition and believes everyone should be self-advocates.
Dayna Davis is a self-advocate in Eugene, Oregon who is passionate about advocating for individuals who experience disabilities.
How do the choices we make impact our lives?
Dayna: They impact our lives a lot. It determines the direction we go by the decisions we make.
How would you feel if someone who cared about you made a decision for you that you did not agree with?
Eric: I would be concerned and wonder, are they really listening to me and what I want?
How have you come to understand what it means to take the lead in making decisions in your life?
Dayna: I am continuously finding myself. I am still learning that what matters most is what I want to do with my life. There is a dark side of developmental disability services too. This includes the professional people that advise us and often project their own agenda on us. We need to be our own person, despite our helpers’ ideas of what we can do.
What life expectations have changed as you’ve made decisions about your life?
Eric: By making what I consider the right decisions for me and my life, I’m able to have freedom with the choices that I make.
Have you taken any chances that when looking back on it, may have provided you with opportunities to fail, learn, and grow?
Dayna: During my first job, I failed, learned, and grew from that experience. Now I look where I am today and all that I have done to help OSAC (Oregon Self Advocacy Coalition) be where they are today.
What is your hope for the next generation and their ability to lead the decisions in their lives?
Eric: What I hope for students is that they all can become Self-advocates and teach parents and teachers.
In closing, as someone who sits on both sides of the table and receives services and supports through the same field I work in, I view my services and supports like a roadmap, and informed choices as the tools I need to decipher that, sometimes complicated, roadmap. As supporters, family members, teachers, and Case Managers, it is your job to help us understand those choices so that we as individuals can make the best decisions for our lives. Thank you to Self-advocates Dayna Davis and Eric Thompson, who shared their thoughts and opinions with our team.
About the Author
Nicholas Kaasa joined the ISP training team with The Arc Oregon in February 2021. He has held a variety of positions in Oregon’s DD services system. Most notably, he worked as a part of Full Access team in Eugene as the Community Outreach Advocate. In this role, he focused on local and statewide self-advocacy efforts.
Nicholas has experience working with families and transition age youth, providing information about DD services in Oregon, and engaging in conversations about choice advising with individuals experiencing disabilities and their families. His passions include person-centered practices and advocating for those, like himself, who experience disabilities.