Photo by Erin Nelson.
Colby Spangler carries groceries for Julie Senter as they walk to her vehicle at Publix at The Village at Lee Branch. Colby’s Act was recently passed by the state Legislature to honor the rights of individuals with disabilities to speak for themselves and make their own decisions.
Oak Mountain High School graduate Colby Spangler, 24, cannot answer why he was born with cerebral palsy, but he can tell people that his voice and ideas are important.
More specifically, Colby and other people with disabilities across the state have not seen a modern update on the laws on guardianships and conservatorships since the 1980s. That is, until the work of Colby and his mother, Kim Spangler.
During a seniors’ banquet ceremony for the OMHS band, when students acknowledged their college choices, Colby, then a freshman, asked his parents, “Where am I going to college?” They decided to investigate his options to make an informed decision.
His mother learned that Colby’s individualized education program (IEP) levels had to reach certain criteria to determine if Colby could even go to college. It also brought up the school-to-guardian pipeline discussion from school officials, telling his parents to become his legal guardians.
However, once Colby started applying to colleges, the programs either required or preferred that college students remained their own guardians. This led to the Spangler family’s decision to let Colby become his own guardian when he turned 19 years old.
During Colby’s high school years, Kim Spangler advocated for her son’s disability rights and for a supported decision-making agreement bill, which she said would change the lives of Alabamians with disabilities.
“A lot of people are not aware that you are signing over a lot of rights [with guardianship] — like the rights to vote, marry, where to live or who to live with,” Kim Spangler said. “Also, you maintain so much control over someone else’s life, and then you may decide you don’t want to anymore. Most importantly, when the original guardian passes away, there is often a downward spiral in a person’s life.”
Supported decision-making (SDM) is a substitute to guardianship and conservatorship. In 2022, Colby’s mother introduced the Colby’s Act bill, sponsored by Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur), into legislation.
The Colby Act defines SDM as: “The process of supporting and accommodating an adult in the decision-making process without impeding the self-determination of the adult. This term includes assistance in making, communicating, and effectuating life decisions.”
Colby understands the importance of the bill passing in the state Legislature not only for his own life, but also for the lives of others like him.
“It will help me live a full life — to vote, to marry and to go to church,” he said. “It will help people with disabilities to live their own lives and speak for themselves.”
In April, Colby’s Act passed unanimously and is now waiting for Governor Kay Ivey to sign the bill into law.
“I can choose for myself. I don’t need a guardian,” Colby said.
It will help me live a full life — to vote, to marry and to go to church. It will help people with disabilities to live their own lives and speak for themselves.
Colby Spangler
Colby is able to lead a full life just like anyone else. He currently lives in a basement apartment on his own, attends Highlands College and commutes to his job at Publix.
Kim loves that Colby now functions as his own guardian, but it also couldn’t happen without the support of the community and the awareness they pushed for his disability and rights. Colby even has his own “Dream Team” — his support team that consists of nine other people, including his parents, experts and mutual friends.
“When we increase Alabamians with disabilities’ support and awareness from inclusion to belonging, then they won’t have to live such isolated lives like they have had to in the past,” Kim said.
