Promoting Self-Determination in Students with Developmental Disabilities

What Works for Special-Needs Learners

by Michael L. Wehmeyer

Growing evidence suggests that self-determination is a significant factor in improving educational and transition outcomes in students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This volume reviews the breadth of available methods for teaching components of self-determination--including choice making, problem solving, decision making, goal setting, self-advocacy, and self-regulated learning--and provides best-practice recommendations that teachers can put to immediate use in the classroom. Grounded in theory and research, the strategies presented here have been shown to enhance students' involvement in educational planning and support them in meeting their goals in school, the workplace, and the community.

206 pages, Hardcover

First published April 11, 2007

About the author

Michael L. Wehmeyer, PhD, is Distinguished Professor Emeritus and former Director, Beach Center on Disability and Kansas University Center on Developmental Disabilities at the University of Kansas. He has edited or authored 50 books and almost 500 scholarly articles and book chapters on topics related to special education, understanding intellectual disability, eugenics, and self-determination. He is a Fellow and past-president of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, Division on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.