What is guardianship?
A guardianship often occurs for a lot of neurodiverse people, which means a parent/adult/guardian has the right to make decisions for you. This means someone in the family, friends, etc., can monitor and make decisions that are medical and financial on your behalf. This occurs the most for neurodiverse individuals who have low cognitive abilities to be able to comprehend situations like medical and finances. For example, if a doctor asks an autistic young adult with low cognitive abilities and just turned 18 about stopping their medication. This individual can't decide due to low cognitive abilities, so they need support from an adult or guardian to make that kind of medical decision. A guardianship is one of the many paths to take for a neurodiverse individual beyond age 18.
It is a big decision for families to decide on going through the guardianship process. I wrote this blog story just as a resource for those who wanted to learn more about guardianship.
What are your experiences or thoughts about guardianship? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments section!