Supported decision-making (SDM) allows individuals with disabilities to make choices about their own lives with support from a team of people they choose. Individuals with disabilities choose people they know and trust to be part of a support network to help with decision-making.Supported decision-making is an alternative to guardianship. Instead of having a guardian make a decision for the person with the disability, SDM allows the person with the disability to make his or her own decisions.Supported decision-making promotes self-determination, control, and autonomy. It fosters independence.We all engage in supported decision-making. We consult with family or friends, colleagues or classmates, mechanics or mentors before we make decisions. We may seek support to decide whether to go on a blind date, buy a used car, change jobs, renew a lease, or undergo cataract surgery. We confer and consult with others, and then we decide on our own.