Use SDM
Step 1 - Learn the basics of SDM
Hopefully you already visiting the SDM 101 page and learned some of the basics about SDM. We also list some great resources below including the 36 page guide and 100 ways to use SDM. There is also a great tool developed by Charting the LifeCourse to help you identify areas you may need help making decisions.
Step 2 - Learn how to use SDM
In this webinar presented by attorney Viviana Bonilla López, you will learn how to determine whether SDM is right for you, how to use SDM, how to draft an SDM agreement, how to incorporate SDM into an existing guardianship or power of attorney, and strategies to assist people with disabilities who do not use verbal speech as their primary form of communication.
Step 3 - Draft your own SDM Agreement
Join the SDM Movement! Use the tools below to apply what you learned in the webinars and draft your own Supported Decision-Making Agreement.
Tools for drafting a SDM agreement:
- A 36 page guide to help you draft a supported decision making agreement. It includes worksheets to help an individual identify items they may want to include in their SDMA and questions to ask possible supporters
- This document provides a number of ways an individual can use supported decision making broken out by employment, housing, relationships, medical care, money management, and education.
Sample SDM Agreement
- Coming soon
- Charting the Lifecourse tool to help you decide areas where you can make your own decisions and where you might need support
Sample information releases
- Coming soon
Tools for decision makers who do not communicate verbally:
- Cboard is an AAC web app for children and adults with speech and language impairments, aiding communication with symbols and text-to-speech.
- Visuals2Go is an ALL-IN-ONE Educational app created to support people with communication and learning difficulties.
- An easy-to-use AAC and choice board app was suggested and edited by special needs teachers and parents to help nonverbal kids participate in class and at home. Users tap a button and the device speaks the button text aloud in either a boy's or girl's voice. Screen choices include yes/no, alphabet, numbers, interactive speaking clock, skip counting, opposites, world map, US coins, bullying, getting dressed, using the bathroom, seasons, emotions, BINGO, body parts, life cycle of a butterfly, custom screens with editable text and pictures.
Tools to determine options:
Decision-Making Options Toolkit
- This is an 8-page printable toolkit that explains many of the tools that can serve as alternatives to guardianship
- The PRACTICAL Tool aims to help lawyers identify and implement decision-making options for persons with disabilities that are less restrictive than guardianship.