Emma Stevens and Gillian Hebblewhite discuss how learning disability practitioners can assess the capacity to make decisions of adults with learning disabilities

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 states: ‘A person is not to be treated as unable to make a decision unless all practicable steps to help him to do so have been taken without success.’ Taking these steps can be a complex process, however. This article explores how practitioners can empower and support adults with learning disabilities to make their own decisions by giving the person the right information, in the right way, at the right time and in the right environment. People with learning disabilities may require time and support to reach decisions, and should be encouraged to evaluate them afterwards.