Helping your child make their own decisions

Sometimes young adults with disabilities can make some of their own decisions, but need some support.

There are ways to help your child learn to make good decisions about personal and financial matters.

Self-advocacy is when someone can speak for themselves and make their own choices.

Many groups in Louisiana offer programs to help people with disabilities make decisions and manage their lives with as much independence as they can.

Connect with a local self-advocacy group to help your child learn these skills.

Here are some good resources:

(Click on the titles to go to the websites. They will open in a new tab or window on your screen.)

• Advocacy Center of Louisiana

• The Arc of Louisiana: Find your local chapter here

• Autistic Self-Advocacy Network

• Down Syndrome Association of Baton Rouge

• Down Syndrome Association of New Orleans

• Easter Seals Youth Advocacy Network

• People First of Louisiana

• National Alliance on Mental Illness - Louisiana (NAMI Louisiana):Resources for transition-age youth

• Self-Advocacy Tip Sheet (This sheet comes from a Massachusetts organization but the tips apply regardless of your location)

• Self-Advocacy and Self-Determination resource list (From the Louisiana Parent Training and Information Center - LAPTIC)

  • LAPTIC is a resource for parents, advocates, and people with disabilities throughout the state. They're located in Harahan but provide information to everyone in Louisiana. They have lots of tools for self-advocacy.