The temporalities of supported decision-making by people with cognitive disability

Abstract

In many societies, people with cognitive disability have been presumed to lack reasoned decision-making capacity. Consequently, substituted decision-making laws and practices have traditionally authorised some people such as parents, guardians or medical professionals, to make decisions on their behalf. Several countries are now moving towards an alternative supported decision-making paradigm whereby people with different cognitive abilities are supported to make decisions that reflect as much as possible their ‘will, preferences and rights’. In this paper we examine how geographical thinking about temporalities might illuminate some of the legal, ethical and practical complexities of suppor..