Rights of Persons with Developmental Disabilities

(Ohio Revised Code, Section 5123.62)

A. I have the right to be treated with respect at all times and as an individual.

B. I have the right to a safe, clean home. If it is a licensed home, it will be checked every year by the State and by the local fire department. I have the right to be alone with family and friends.

C. I have a right to get meals that are healthful and good for me.

D. I have the right to go to the church of my choice, or not to go to church at all.

E. I have the right to go to a doctor or dentist when I need to as soon as I need to go.

F. I have the right to get people to help me with the way I talk, walk, or do things with my hands. I have the right to get people to help me with the way I act or the way I feel.

G. I have the right to accept assistance and training without it being forced on me.

H. I have the right to have some time to myself and a place to go be by myself.

I. I have the right to use the telephone, write letters or talk with anyone I want about any subject I want to discuss in a responsible way.

J. I have the right to keep things of my own that I choose to have.

K. I have the right to socialize and to be friends with both men and women.

L. I have the right to join in activities or do things that will help me grow to be the best person I can be.

M. I have the right to have a job and make money.

N. I have the right to be treated like everyone else under the law.

O. No one should hit me, hurt me, yell at me, or say terrible things to me.

P. I have the right to go to school or work setting and meet and work with other people. I have the right to programs that help me, and to go out on activities.

Q. I have the right to help decide the things that will affect me.

R. I have the right to ask someone like my parents or an advocate or a friend to speak with me and/or for me and help me do things.

S. I have the right to manage and spend my own money based on my ability to do so.

T. I have the right to have the information in my file kept private.

U. I have the right to complain if I don't agree with something. I also have the right to talk about my complaints without being threatened by others to change my mind or get me into trouble.

V. I cannot be given medications to control my behavior, be tied up, held down, or locked up unless it is needed to keep me from hurting myself or others, or unless I have agreed and there is a written plan in place.

W. I have the right to learn about how laws are made, join in community decisions, vote for people who make laws, and be able to tell them how I feel about the laws.

X. I have the right to say "no" to being part of any study or experiment.