A/HRC/40/32 36. All adults with disabilities, including those with intellectual or psychosocial disabilities, must enjoy full autonomy in decisions about rehabilitation interventions. The practice of restricting or removing the legal capacity of a person because of their impairment and transferring the decision-making powers to a third party (such as a legal guardian) is contrary to article 12 of the Convention, also in rehabilitation. 22 Some persons with disabilities may wish to seek support, including peer support, for decision-making regarding their rehabilitation (A/HRC/37/56, para. 27). Support arrangements can enhance communication between the individual and rehabilitation personnel – which is key to the principle of free and informed consent – at all stages of the rehabilitation process. It can also assist the individual to evaluate available rehabilitative options (ibid., para. 41). 37. Children with disabilities, regardless of their age, must be enabled to fully participate in decisions relating to their habilitation and rehabilitation (Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, art. 7 (3); and Convention on the Rights of the Child, art. 12). 23 They should be provided with information about proposed interventions in a manner and format that are understandable and accessible to them. The child’s opinions, preferences, wishes and concerns must be given due weight in accordance with their age, maturity and evolving capacities, during the development of the habilitation or rehabilitation plan and throughout the rehabilitation process. Rehabilitation service providers should create a secure, respectful and inclusive environment to enable the child’s participation,24 and to ensure respect for the right to preserve his or her identity (Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, art. 3 (h)). Children with disabilities who are victims of violence or abuse should be free to access counselling and rehabilitation envisaged in article 16 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities without the consent of their parents or legal guardians. 25 38. Rehabilitation cannot be regarded as consent-based if a person must accept the intervention to avoid institutionalization. Similarly, undergoing rehabilitation should not be a precondition for accessing social benefits and other forms of essential social protection (A/70/297, para. 68). 2. Non-discrimination 39. States must ensure that persons with disabilities can access all rehabilitation services, both public and private, on an equal basis with others, regardless of their impairment, sex, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, or other grounds. Multiple and intersecting grounds of discrimination should be identified and addressed to prevent these individuals from falling between policy gaps. Any discrimination in accessing rehabilitation services must be prohibited in law and eliminated from legislation, policies and practice.26 Inherently discriminatory practices that affect how persons with disabilities receive rehabilitation, such as institutionalization, substitute decision-making and segregated education, must be abolished, but until this has been achieved their application must be immediately discontinued in the rehabilitation context. 40. Reasonable accommodation is also an intrinsic part of the non-discrimination principle and is therefore a duty of immediate effect (A/73/161, para. 58). Reasonable accommodation may involve modifications and adjustments to the delivery of rehabilitation services to meet the specific requirements of an individual. It may also involve accommodation within settings unconnected to the rehabilitation service provider, such as the person’s school or workplace, in order to enable them to receive the rehabilitation they require (for example, flexible office hours or additional tutoring to make up for missed classes) or as a direct component of their rehabilitation programme (for example, changes to the working environment or to the person’s job description). 22 23 24 25 26 10 Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, general comment No. 1 (2014) on equal recognition before the law, para. 41. See also Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No. 12, para. 100. Ibid., paras. 22, 23 and 25. Ibid., para. 101. A/HRC/34/58, paras. 65–66; see also A/73/161, paras. 58–60.