Living in his own apartment gave Ben big decisions to make. He used supported decision making as he choose whom to live with. And he found a new sense of freedom and empowerment in the process.

Ben uses a letter board to communicate. He taps each letter of a word to spell it out.

For the past couple of months, I’ve been working with Lucy Beadnell of The Arc of Northern Virginia on a video series that highlights the impact of Supported Decision Making, an approach to making choices that guides and supports the process for people with disabilities. Lucy secured a grant to teach the principles of Supported Decision Making from the Virginia Board for People with Disabilities. The source of the grant funding was the Administration for Community Living under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.