Among different transitions that happen in a young person's life, transition to adulthood can be one of the most challenging. The new post-school environment requires increased self-determination, including self-awareness, self-advocacy, self-management, and other important skills that help one function as an independent adult. Because it takes…

Self-determination refers to a person's ability to have control of their life choices, decisions, and interactions with others. Self-determination skills include: 1) decision-making, 2) goal setting, 3) self-awareness, 4) problem-solving, 5) self-advocacy, 6) self-monitoring, and 7) self-efficacy. Researchers suggest that youth with or at-risk for…

Self-advocacy, self-management, self-regulation, and self-knowledge are complex terms, often considered forms of self-determination. Whatever term you may use, helping young adults with intellectual disability (ID) make authentic decisions about their own goals and behaviors often results in passive agreement. Even though advancing…

The Essential Skills Team knows that each student has a unique learning style, home and school environment, academic and personal strengths and experiences, and family backgrounds. One of the goals when creating the Essential Skills Campus was to provide resources that harness the strengths and experiences students bring with them to their first…

Efforts to promote self-determination have been a principal focus of transition planning in support of students with disabilities for nearly two decades. However, research and recommendations related to self-determination have been primarily centered on promoting student participation in the IEP process and ensuring broader preparation for…

The concepts of self-determination and self-advocacy have been a focus in the education of students with disabilities and many new curricula, guidelines, and materials have recently become available for educators. This article describes a project that involved individuals with intellectual disabilities in making a movie as a strategy for exploring…

"Connecting With Others" for grades 9 through 12 is a proactive program helps high school students learn skills in self-advocacy, communication, interpersonal behaviors, and problem solving. It includes 40 learning activities that take into consideration cultural, ethnic, and gender diversity. The activities are divided into the…