The following article is part of an ongoing series about the NADSP Competency Areas. The NADSP Competency Areas offer DSPs the opportunity to address challenges, work on issues identified by the person they support, or assist a person in pursuing a particular goal. Each Competency Area has corresponding skill statements that describe the knowledge and skills DSPs must have to demonstrate competency in each area.

This blog is about the skill statement “The competent DSP assists and supports the participant to develop strategies, make informed choices, follow through on responsibilities, and take risks,” within the NADSP Competency Area: “Participant Empowerment.”

Inside The Competency Area

Participant Empowerment

As we start off the new year, 2026 is the perfect time to cover Participant Empowerment. It means so much to people who have disabilities. Feeling empowered can have a positive impact on mental health, self-esteem, and ultimately, being independent in life. Understanding and embracing the competency of Participant Empowerment is essential because it places the person supported at the center of their own life decisions and growth.

When a DSP assists people to develop strategies, make informed choices, and follow through on responsibilities, they are fostering autonomy, confidence, and self-determination. Supporting people to take appropriate risks is something that DSPs do all the time. Rather than shielding them from all challenges, good DSPs will honor the right for people they support to learn from experiences and build resilience. Competent DSPs balance guidance with respect, helping people weigh options, understand consequences, and pursue their goals. This approach leads to more meaningful outcomes, stronger skills for independence, and lives that are directed by the person, not the system.

Inside The Skill Statement

The competent DSP assists and supports the participant to develop strategies, make informed choices, follow through on responsibilities, and take risks.

At its core, direct support work is about empowering people to live lives that reflect their own values, preferences, and aspirations. By centering people supported in their own informed decision-making, DSPs reinforce the belief that people are capable and knowledgeable regarding their own lives. People deserve to have control over their choices.

Embracing Participant Empowerment also strengthens trust and helps build authentic relationships. When DSPs support informed decision-making, and follow-through, people supported experience respect rather than control. This increases engagement and motivation and allows room for appropriate risk-taking. It is critical in person centered practice. Growth, confidence, and resilience are built through real-world experiences, not through constant protection. DSPs who skillfully balance safety with dignity help people learn from successes and setbacks alike.

Ultimately, this approach aligns with person-centered practices and ethical support. It moves services away from compliance-driven systems toward outcomes that reflect real independence, accountability, and personal growth. This works to ensure that supports enhance people’s lives rather than limit them.

The Impact On People Receiving Services

​Empowering people with disabilities affirms their right to direct their own lives and make meaningful choices. When DSPs practice Participant Empowerment, people gain greater control over daily decisions and long-term goals. DSPs can foster confidence, self-esteem, and a stronger sense of identity. Being supported to make informed choices and take appropriate risks allows people to learn from experience, develop problem-solving skills, and build resilience.

Rather than being protected from challenges, people are trusted to grow through them. Empowerment also leads to more natural and meaningful community participation, as people pursue activities, relationships, and roles that matter to them. These experiences strengthen independence, self-advocacy, and personal responsibility. Most importantly, if DSPs are intentional about their practice and use this competency area, it shifts services away from compliance and dependence, toward enhanced dignity, purpose, and self-determination. It can help ensure that people with disabilities are not just supported, but truly respected as capable decision-makers in their own lives.

Putting It All Into Practice

Participant Empowerment as a competency is practiced daily through actions and interventions that promote choice, voice, and control for people receiving support. DSPs should begin by actively listening and seeking to understand each person’s preferences, goals, and concerns, rather than making assumptions or decisions on their behalf. Offering real choices about routines, activities, relationships, and supports – and honoring those choices whenever possible – reinforces autonomy and self-determination.

DSPs can support empowerment by helping people develop strategies to solve problems, make decisions, and plan next steps. Informed decision making is a highly complex skill. This may include breaking tasks into manageable parts, using visual supports, or talking through options and possible outcomes. Encouraging follow-through on responsibilities, while providing appropriate reminders or supports, helps people build confidence and accountability as the person supported makes independent decisions.

Practicing participant empowerment also means supporting people to take reasonable and informed risks. DSPs should balance safety with dignity, discussing potential consequences and facilitating opportunities for learning and growth, instead of automatically preventing risk. When mistakes happen, DSPs can frame them as chances for growth rather than failures.

Additionally, DSPs can advocate alongside people they support, encouraging them to speak up for themselves in meetings, in the community, or within service systems. By modeling respect, patience, and belief in each person’s abilities, DSPs create environments where people feel valued and capable. Over time, these daily practices lead to increased independence, stronger self-advocacy skills, and lives that are truly directed by the person.

Quick Tips

How can you help embrace this skill statement and implement it? Here are some quick tips!

• • Begin by actively listening and seeking to understand each person
  • Help people develop strategies to solve problems, make decisions, and plan next steps
  • Be sure to balance safety with dignity of risk
  • Honor the right for people to learn from experience and help them build resilience
  • Encourage follow-through on responsibilities, while providing appropriate reminders

Relevant Resources

• Frontline Initiative: Choice, Direction, And Control
• Impact: Self-Direction
• ACL: Advocacy And Empowerment
• National Resource Center for Supported Decision-Making
• Frontline Initiative: Self-Determination
• Impact: Self-Advocacy
• NADSP: Informed Decision-Making Curriculum
• Impact: Self-Determination & Supported Decision-Making