The Dignity of Risk
Dignity of Risk is one of the many core values of the self-advocacy movement. Having the freedom to succeed or fail in trying new things that might seem risky is part of how we grow as people with and without disabilities.
Over the years many self-advocates, including myself, have talked about how we are often overprotected or held to higher standard than our non-disabled peers when we fail or make mistakes. Examples of this could be dealing with debt, getting lost while far away from home, failing a class, and much more.
Part of being person-centered means embracing the Dignity of Risk so that we can live independent and self-determined lives to the greatest extent possible.
From a historical perspective, our society has too often focused on avoiding all risk at all costs in the lives of adults with disabilities. The term ‘Dignity of Risk’ has been around since the 1970s when people with developmental disabilities were often viewed as lacking the skills and capacity to make our own decisions or live on our own. As Jason Buckles says, “It is so easy for professionals to lose sight over how much power they have over the people they support.” Having high expectations and supporting Dignity of Risk is essential in creating a system that is truly person-centered.
In the era of the COVID-19 pandemic, we can champion Dignity of Risk by supporting the expansion of new housing arrangements that allow people with disabilities to live on their own or with a peer (instead of living in a group home or other segregated setting).
The last two years have shown that people in segregated settings have a greater chance of catching COVID19. On top of that people with autism and developmental disabilities are at higher risk of poor outcomes including death from COVID, so if we want to get serious about reducing risk of COVID among disability community we must embrace Dignity of Risk as part of systems change so that when pandemic is over, we can create better systems than before.
COVID has taught us all that the world is never going to be free of risk. We must break mindset of seeing disability as something that is broken and in need of fixing.
Our culture and systems are often ableist in the way they support and view living with a disability. This applies especially to people with intellectual disability where we are often not seen as “smart.” Now is a perfect time for our system to examine policies on risk!
Supporting people in experiencing the Dignity of Risk can be as simple as allowing them to take the bus alone to work or downtown. It can be as big and scary as moving into their own apartment.
Resources:
https://ncapps.acl.gov/docs/NCAPPS_Nicole_COVID_DOR_201002.pdf
https://www.mhddcenter.org/self-determination-dignity-of-risk/#
