Briefly review information on the Table of Self-Determination Components and Operational Definitions (Table on Page 11 of the document linked below)
Promoting Student Self-Determination Skills in IEP Planning (Links to an external site.)
in their work “Promoting Student Self-Determination Skills in IEP Planning”, Wood et al. point out that in the absence of a published self-determination assessment instrument, teachers can take several steps with students to assess their strengths and needs for the purpose of developing IEP goals and objectives. For example, one can construct a general purpose, teacher-made checklist or questionnaire based on any of the self-determination components. If one is interested in teaching about making choices, one might include some of these questions:
What kinds of choices does the student make?
When given a choice between two or more options, does the student indicate a choice?
How does the student indicate her or his choice?
How does the student assess different options in preparation for making a choice?
Does the student understand that there are consequences associated with the choices that we make?
Can the student use experiences from past choices to make better choices in the future?
To determine where to begin, one may ask questions pertaining to how well students can articulate things about themselves. For example, can they identify what they like and dislike, people they like to be with, places they like to go, activities they like to do, and personal strengths and weaknesses? A transition-age student learning to take more responsibility for his or her learning by selecting elective courses; choosing academic areas to work on each day; and, in some systems, making decisions about his or her graduation options, can then use those skills when making decisions about services he or she may want to access as an adult. For students with more severe disabilities, teachers will need to provide specific training in future environments to ensure the transfer of skills.
The Assignment:
1) Choose one component from the table on page 11 (referred to above) to develop ideas on how to assess a student’s strengths and needs in order to write objectives for self-determination. Present one paragraph defining the component (5 points)
2) Develop your ideas for an individual with a learning disability and someone with a significant intellectual disability following the sample above. Identify a minimum of 5 guiding questions and 5 engaging activities. You may present them in a list or paragraph format.(10 points)
