People Who Have Had A Brain Injury Have Rights Too
People who have had a brain injury have the same rights, entitlements and responsibilities as any other member of the community. Every member of the community has the right to make their own decisions and to learn from their mistakes.
The Right to Decision Making and Choices
Every person who has had a brain injury has the right to participate fully in decisions about the events and activities of their daily lives. This includes decisions about how they spend their time, how they spend their money, when they want to eat and when they want to go to sleep. You may not agree with their choice but it is not your decision.
When a person is 18 years of age or over they have the same rights of decision making as any other adult (unless they have had a Public Guardian appointed).
Dignity of Risk - What Does This Mean?
Everybody has the right to make mistakes and learn from their experiences. If you provide care or support for a person who has had a brain injury (as a volunteer, family member or paid carer) you have to ensure the person can look after themselves as much as possible. That means helping the person develop the skills and knowledge to handle any “foreseeable risks”.
When the person has a severe disability you need to assist that person develop ways to compensate for their disability. Very often this means the person will need assistance from rehabilitation professionals.
What Is Disability Discrimination?
If you try to restrict a person’s ability to exercise these rights, because they have had a brain injury, you can be charged with discrimination under the Federal Disability Discrimination Act (1992). Disability discrimination can be either direct or indirect.
“Direct discrimination occurs when a person is - or is about to be - treated less favourably than others because the person - or his or her associate - has a disability.
Indirect discrimination occurs when a condition stops a person with a disability, or an associate of a person with a disability, from doing something.
Disability discrimination
also includes asking for information which can:
- be used to discriminate against a person, and,
- would not be asked of a person without a disability in the same situation.”
For example, asking about a person’s disability during a job interview.
What or Who is the Guardianship Tribunal?
If a person demonstrates a lack of decision making capability, the Guardianship Tribunal may appoint a private guardian or the Public Guardian. The role of a guardian is “to act as a guardian of adult persons unable to manage their own persons”.
A guardian helps a personmake decisions. They might be made responsible for making decisions about how the persons spends their mony, medical treatments that need to be considered, or, the level of support the person needs.
The Guardianship Tribunal may also appoint an estate manager from The Protective Commissioner to manage the person’s financial affairs.
For more information contact The Guardianship Tribunal, The Office of the Public Guardian, or, The Office of the Protective Commissioner.
It’s OK To Complain
Everybody has the right to complain if they feel dissatisfied. Organisations that provide a service to people who have had a brain injury must have a fair and effective complaints policy. This policy needs to:
- be in a format that is easily understood by all consumers.
- be designed to ensure a complaint is resolved quickly and to the satisfaction of the person who made the complaint.
- provide guidance on where the person can go if they are dissatisfied with the way their complaint was handled.
For more information contact the Disability Complaints Service in your State.
Sometimes a Person Who Has a Disability Needs Help and Sometimes They Don’t
If you think a person needs help you must ask the person if they want assistance first - then ask what they would like you to do. Don’t do anything if you haven’t checked with the person first.
To make it easier for you to assist or support a person who has had a brain injury, its helpful to follow these suggestions:
- Maintain the person’s freedom of choice.
- Always explain what you are about to do and why - then do what you said you would do.
- Listen to what the person is saying, even if it takes you a while to understand.
- Don’t pretend you know what the person is feeling.
- Don’t try to win arguments - stick to the facts.
- The person may get tired very quickly.
- Don’t tease, embarrass or get angry with the person just because they don’t do what you wanted.
- Be patient.
* Source : Brain Injury Association of NSW
