Parenting Styles and Practices in Enhancing Self-Determination of Children With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Parenting styles and practices are crucial in promoting the self-determination of children. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the role of parenting styles and practices in enhancing the self-determination of children with/without intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). The present study was carried out with a sample of 243 parents of children with/without IDD in Türkiye (Turkey). The results indicated that an authoritative parenting style and autonomy-supportive parenting practices positively affect the degree of child self-determination, whereas permissive and overprotective parenting practices may limit child opportunities in fostering self-determination. The study results also showed that urbanization, higher income, and higher education level of parents positively impacted the degree of child self-determination. Parents of typically developing children reported higher levels of overall self-determination for their typically developing children when compared with children with intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder. On the other hand, parents of children with mild disabilities reported a higher level of self-determination than both children with moderate and severe disabilities. The results were discussed within the cultural context of the current sample.

Parental habitus in promoting self-determination of children with/without intellectual and developmental disabilities in Türkiye

BACKGROUND

Enhancing the self-determination of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) is a prominent factor in their daily, community, school, or post-school outcomes. Parental practices play a crucial role in promoting self-determination of children with IDD. Families worldwide engage in parenting practices determined by each family's beliefs and values filtered through cultural experiences related to the place of origin, social structure, and living area.

AIMS

This study investigated the impact of parental habitus as structured within social and cultural capital on family ratings of child self-determination in two distinct regions of Turkey (Türkiye). Our assumption is that the gap in terms of social, economic, and cultural capital between different districts of the same country affects parental habitus in fostering their children's self-determination.

METHOD

Researchers collected information from 232 family members regarding the degree of their children's self-determination in two different geographic areas of Türkiye. We used the American Institutes for Research (AIR) Self-Determination Scale - Parent Form (AIR-SDS-PF questionnaire and a socio-demographic form to collect data. We employed the univariate analysis (two-way ANOVA) to identify the main and interactional effect among variables.

RESULTS

Parental habitus depending on where families live, socioeconomic level, and child's disability status was influential in promoting self-determination for their children with IDD and counterparts.

CONCLUSIONS

Regional or micro-cultural differences impacting parental dispositions should be considered in developing or planning self-determination interventions for children with/without IDD in the same country.

A model proposal development study for adults with intellectual disabilities in Turkey compared to USA

Intellectual disability (ID) persists from birth through adulthood and aging. Thus, the support provided to individuals with intellectual disabilities (IwID) in adulthood is essential to increase their self-determination and quality of life. This research aimed to determine how IwID may receive support for education, working life, accommodation, and leisure in adulthood in the Turkish context by increasing their and their families' quality of life without socially discriminating against them. Qualitative data were collected in two stages, combining semi-structured interviews and the Delphi study technique. Results prompted the recommendation that a legal basis for transition-to-adulthood planning be established in Turkey for a functional adult service model. Next, a model with specific standards by which multidisciplinary experts analyse education, work, leisure, and housing alternatives for preadulthood and adulthood should be developed and coordinated by the Turkish Ministry of National Education and the Ministry of Family. Implications for the future are further discussed.

The Future of Positive Psychology and Disability

For much of the history of the application of psychology to disability, the research and clinical focus of the field was deficits-oriented: documenting what people with disability could not do, proposing theories of why they could not do these things, creating measures to assess this incapacity and incompetence, and building interventions and treatments predicated on disease and pathology. It has been only in the last few decades that conceptualizations of disability allowed for consideration of strengths and positive attributes along with the presence of disability and only in the past two decades that a positive psychology of disability has emerged. This article will briefly summarize the factors that led to the emergence of a focus on the positive psychology of disability and a strength-based approach in the field, examine the state of knowledge and practice as it pertains to the positive psychology of disability, and will examine challenges that serve as barriers to progress in this area and opportunities for advancement. Among these is examining how “optimal human functioning” can be understood in ways that includes, and not excludes, people with disability. The importance of shifting the disability research and practice focus to emphasize flourishing, well-being, and self-determination of and for people with disability will be discussed, as well as the necessity for the field of positive psychology to more aggressively reach out to include people with disability among those populations whom the field values and includes.

Toward Freedom and Dignity: Comments on the Occasion of the Publication of the 12th Edition of the AAIDD Definition and Classification Manual

Dr. Wehmeyer provides a reflection on how the 12th edition AAIDD Definition, Diagnosis, Classification, and Systems of Supports Manual might move the field of intellectual disability forward.

The positive psychology constructs of parents of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Turkey

BACKGROUND

The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine positive psychology constructs (life orientation/optimism, life satisfaction, happiness, psychological well-being and personal well-being) that may predict the family quality of life (FQOL) of parents of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in Turkey.

METHODS

Data were obtained from a convenience sample of 660 parents of children with IDD who responded to six assessments, including a measure of FQOL. An analysis using stepwise multiple regression was conducted to identify predictors of FQOL as rated by parents.

RESULTS

The four constructs including personal well-being, psychological well-being, life orientation (optimism) and life satisfaction significantly explained 60% of the total variance of FQOL. The amount of explained variance, beta scores and correlations suggests that these positive psychology constructs are significant predictors of FQOL of parents of children with IDD in Turkey.

CONCLUSION

The study findings suggested that positive psychological constructs at the individual level were positively related to FQOL at the group level. Personal well-being was the strongest predictor of FOQL of parents who have children with IDD in Turkey. The results also indicated that other constructs including psychological well-being, an optimistic life orientation and life satisfaction contribute significantly to the FQOL of parents of children with IDD.

Promoting Career Design in Youth and Young Adults with ASD: A Feasibility Study

Recent calls by transition researchers in postsecondary transition have advocated for new approaches to transition services focused on career design, which uses career-related experiences based on a person's interests to develop goal setting and problem-solving abilities. Youth and young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), who often have limited opportunity for career-related experiences, could benefit from career design intervention. This study examined the feasibility of using the Self-Determined Career Design Model (SDCDM) to enhance transition-related outcomes for twenty-five youth and young adults with ASD. Statistically significant gains were seen in goal attainment and occupational performance. This study provides preliminary evidence that the SDCDM can feasibly enhance outcomes for youth and young adults with ASD.

The Importance of Self-Determination to the Quality of Life of People with Intellectual Disability: A Perspective

There is both an intuitive and theoretical link between self-determination and quality of life for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Theoretically, definitions of self-determination have framed the construct with regard to its contribution to a person’s overall quality of life, while theoretical frameworks of quality of life have included self-determination among the core dimensions contributing to enhanced quality of life. These theoretical linkages have been supported by research on the quality of life and self-determination of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and the relationships between these constructs. This article provides an overview of theoretical frameworks of self-determination, their relationship with theoretical frameworks of quality of life, and research pertaining to these constructs with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. It is concluded that self-determination and quality of life are important constructs in designing supports that enable people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and that an important means to enhance the quality of life of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities is to promote and enable people to be self-determined.

Age of Majority and Alternatives to Guardianship: A Necessary Amendment to the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004

Federal law requires that schools provide students receiving special education services and their parents/guardians with notice, 1 year before the student reaches the age of majority, that all of the educational rights previously afforded to the parents/guardians will transfer to the student once they reach the age of majority. During this “transfer-of-rights” period, educational professionals often advise parents/guardians to seek legal guardianship over the student with disabilities without providing information about other options. As a result, many parents/guardians seek guardianship without knowing about or exploring less-restrictive alternatives that could help students retain their legal rights, provide opportunities to enhance self-determination, and build community participation skills that benefit them in school and as adults. This article will (a) provide an overview of the use and impact of guardianship and describe recent advances in developing and implementing less-restrictive alternatives to guardianship and (b) advocate for an amendment to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 that will require schools to provide students and their families with information about the full range of decision-making options during the “transfer-of-rights” period.

The Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction and Students With Extensive Support Needs in Inclusive Settings

There is a strong link between the development of skills associated with self-determination (i.e., choice-making, decision-making, problem solving, goal setting and attainment, planning, self-management, self-advocacy, self-awareness, and self-knowledge) and positive school (e.g., academic achievement) and postschool (e.g., employment, community access) outcomes. In this article, we advocate for an examination of research related to the impact, usability, and cultural sustainability of an evidence-based intervention intended to enable students to enhance skills associated with self-determination, the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI), when used to support students with extensive support needs, including students with intellectual and developmental disability (IDD). Theoretical foundations of the construct of self-determination and its applicability for all people and extant research on implementation of the SDLMI and students with extensive support needs are presented. Implications for researchers are addressed, including the impact, usability, and cultural sustainability of the SDLMI for students with extensive support needs, and the potential of the SDLMI to support all students in inclusive settings when implemented as a universal support.

Self-determination and future goals in a sample of adults with intellectual disability

BACKGROUND

In recent years, increased attention has been directed towards the importance of identifying the future goals of people with intellectual disability (ID) and promoting their abilities to design their future. Consistent with these, the first aim of this study is to investigate the future goals of people with ID in terms of content and temporal distance. Moreover, the second aim of this study is to test the predictive role of self-determination on the number of future goals reported by people with ID.

METHODS

In this study, 96 young adults with ID were involved and a mixed method design was chosen. Specifically, qualitative procedures (consensual qualitative analyses) and quantitative procedures (structural equation modelling) were carried out.

RESULTS

The results showed that the future goals of people with ID are characterised by different factors related to autonomy, health/well-being, interpersonal relations and personal growth. Moreover, self-determination (assessed with Self-Determination Questionnaire-Version for Adults) predicts a higher number of future goals reported by people with ID.

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest the importance of providing adequate support to the development of self-determination.

Career Adaptability, Self-Determination, and Life Satisfaction: A Mediational Analysis With People With Substance Use Disorder

Living a satisfying life is an important goal for people with substance use disorder (SUD). However, making decisions about the future, imagining future scenarios, and setting and attaining goals related to that future after treatment is a complex task. As several studies have shown, people with SUD experience multiple barriers to designing their future life at the individual, program, and social support levels. Using a life design approach, the aim of this study was to investigate the role career adaptability and self-determination play in life satisfaction for adults with SUD. More specifically, a partial mediation model focused on career adaptability and life satisfaction through enhanced self-determination was tested in a sample ( n = 134) of people with SUD. Findings suggest that career adaptability is indirectly related to life satisfaction, mediated by self-determination. These results have important implications for practice in vocational rehabilitation and career counseling for people with SUD.

Features of employment-related technology for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities: A thematic analysis

BACKGROUND

The aim of this study was to identify, extract, summarize and list the features of applied cognitive technology used to support employment-related outcomes for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

METHOD

Thematic analysis was employed on a published research base of 41 studies obtained through a larger scoping review of the literature on the same topic.

RESULTS

The thematic analysis identified 109 technology features categorized into 14 main categories of features, which were grouped into three over-arching categories, Output, Input and General Features. The majority of the studies comprised "Output" features with "Audio" features being the most frequent category. Studies using more sophisticated technology incorporated a wider range of features and a larger number of references.

CONCLUSIONS

Further investigation regarding the association of specific technology features with the enhancement of various cognitive functions will assist the decision making and technology selection process.

Technology use to support employment-related outcomes for people with intellectual and developmental disability: an updated meta-analysis

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study is to update and extend an original meta-analysis which included papers published up to and including 2003 and investigated the impact of technology use on employment-related outcomes for people with intellectual and developmental disability.

METHODS

Following on from the original meta-analysis, this study is a meta-analysis of pertinent single-subject experimental design studies conducted from 2004 to 2016 and employs the same metric methods as the original contribution.

RESULTS

The results are generally consistent with those of the original meta-analysis, namely, applied cognitive technology effectively supports employment-related outcomes for people with intellectual and developmental disability. Nevertheless, significant differences in the intervention effects were found (a) between groups of individuals with varying levels of disability, and (b) between interventions utilizing technology with and without universal design features.

CONCLUSIONS

In line with the original contribution, applied cognitive technology seems to support people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to better achieve employment-related outcomes. More research is needed though to explore the impact of different types of technology on employment-related outcomes.

Assessing Character Strengths in Youth With Intellectual Disability: Reliability and Factorial Validity of the VIA-Youth

This article reports the results of an examination of the endorsement, reliability, and factorial validity of the VIA-Youth and assessment of character strengths and virtues developed for the general population in youth with and without intellectual disability. Findings suggest that, generally, youth with intellectual disability endorsed character strengths as being like them at lower levels, although few differences were significant. Issues related to measurement, particularly the establishment of measurement invariance, emerged for some virtues. Reliability of the scale was similar across the two groups. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Development of the Supported Decision Making Inventory System

Supported decision making has received increased attention as an alternative to guardianship and a means to enable people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to exercise their right to legal capacity. Assessments are needed that can used by people with disabilities and their systems of supports to identify and plan for needed supports to enable decision making. This article describes the steps taken to develop such an assessment tool, the Supported Decision Making Inventory System (SDMIS), and initial feedback received from self-advocates with intellectual disability. The three sections of the SDMIS (Supported Decision Making Personal Factors Inventory, Supported Decision Making Environmental Demands Inventory, and Decision Making Autonomy Inventory) are described and implications for future research, policy, and practice are discussed.

The Impact of Medical/Behavioral Support Needs on the Supports Needed by Adolescents With Intellectual Disability to Participate in Community Life

As adolescents with intellectual disability (ID) transition to adulthood, there is a need to plan for effective community-based supports that address the post-school life. There is also a need to plan for the impact of factors (e.g., medical/behavioral support needs) on supports needed for community participation. Data from the Supports Intensity Scale-Adult Version (SIS-A) was used to examine relations between medical/behavior support needs and support needs assessed in the standardized portion of the SIS-A. Results suggested that the presence of medical/behavioral needs had a strong impact on supports needed to participate in the community activities, and that more intensive medical support needs were related to higher support needs in the Home Living, Community Living, and Health and Safety domains.

Comparison of self-determination of students with disabilities: multivariate and discriminant function analyses

BACKGROUND

Self-determined behaviour is composed of multiple, interrelated component elements, and yet little empirical study has researched the self-determination components other than choice making and goal setting. Also, few theoretical relationships have been drawn between the component elements of self-determined behaviour and the impact of disability category. Therefore, this study examined profiles of the combination of three self-report measures of component elements of self-determined behaviour (autonomous functioning, problem solving and internal locus of control) between two groups (ID and learning disabilities/emotional disorders).

METHOD

We analysed data from 96 middle school and high school students ages 13 through 22 years who completed three self-report instruments of the Autonomy - section 1 of The Arc's Self-determination Scale, the Problem Solving Survey and the Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale. A multivariate analysis of covariance was conducted to investigate the differences between the two groups after controlling for the developmental effects of age. A discriminant function analysis examined whether membership of the two groups could be predicted from the three component elements.

RESULTS

Results showed that each group had different profiles within the combined three component elements of self-determination but groups were not different on any single measure of component elements of self-determined behaviour exclusively. The combination of three variables was useful in confirming the membership of two dichotomous groups.

CONCLUSIONS

Score differences on the three component behaviour imply that the two groups have different instructional needs and therefore require differentiated instructional approaches. The three measures of the component elements of self-determined behaviour collectively separate the two groups, suggesting that the component elements should be considered in a combination as opposed to being treated as individual elements in the context of discussing self-determined behaviour.

Participation and Intellectual Disability: A Review of the Literature

Participation is a central aspect of human functioning and a key focus of research and practice in the intellectual disability field. However, there is not an accepted definition of participation that guides research and practice. To inform the development of a definition, a scoping review of the intellectual disability literature from 2001-2015 was conducted. Findings suggest that existing research rarely uses definitions of participation, but does examine participation across multiple domains and addresses issues of access and inclusion. Less focus was placed on individual aspects of participation such as meaning, responsibility, and choice. Based on the findings, implications for future research and practice are provided.

Construct Validation of the Supports Intensity Scale - Children and Adult Versions: An Application of a Pseudo Multitrait-Multimethod Approach

This study examined the convergent validity of the Supports Intensity Scale - Adult Version (SIS-A; Thompson et al., 2015a ) and Supports Intensity Scale - Children's Version (SIS-C; Thompson et al., 2016a ). Data from SISOnline (n = 129,864) for the SIS-A and from the SIS-C standardization sample (n = 4,015) were used for analyses. Using a pseudo multitrait-multimethod model, we estimated observed support needs scores as shared trait (support needs concept) and method (type, frequency, and daily support time) variances. Overall, trait variances more strongly influenced support needs scores than method variances, supporting the convergent validity of both versions of SIS. Findings also suggested that each of three methods of measuring support needs uniquely contributed to observed support needs ratings although different patterns existed between the SIS-A and SIS-C.

Self-Prompted Communication Book Use to Increase Social Interaction among High School Students

This investigation examined the effects of self-prompted communication book training provided by peers on the conversational initiations of four high school students with extensive support needs. The intervention was associated with increases in participants' appropriate initiations and general education conversational partners' corresponding responses. The self-prompting strategy also was associated with increases in conversational topics discussed and decreases in inappropriate initiations by participants. In addition, interviews conducted postintervention generally indicated that participants believed they had (a) met their social goals to increase their interactions with their general education peers and (b) made more friends at school. Implications of findings are discussed and suggestions made for future programmatic efforts.

Self-Determination and Individuals with Significant Disabilities: Examining Meanings and Misinterpretations

There appears to be a belief held by many people, both in the field of disability services and among people in the general public, that self-determination is a topic not relevant for people with significant disabilities. This article reviews how the term has been defined and conceptualized, examines misperceptions of the term that may have contributed to the exclusion of people with significant disabilities, and seeks to find common ground to move forward to promote self-determination for people with significant disabilities.

The Self Determination Focus of Transition Goals for Students with Mental Retardation

Teaching students to become self-determined young people has gained wide acceptance as an important outcome of the transition process. There is, however, limited information regarding the degree to which students actually receive instruction enabling them to become self-determined. This study examined the transition goals of students with mental retardation to determine the degree to which these students were being taught skills related to self-determination. Results indicated that there was limited emphasis in transition goals on self-determination. Our discussion focuses on the need to provide systematic instruction in component elements of self-determination in order to achieve this outcome.

Supporting High School Students to Engage in Recreational Activities with Peers

The authors investigated the effects of an intervention package to support five high school students with extensive support-needs to initiate and engage in recreational activities with general-education peers in their physical education classes. The intervention components were (a) assessing participants’ recreational activity goals, (b) teaching self-prompting using a picture book, (c) programming common stimuli, and (d) asking participants to assess daily performance and evaluate daily goal achievement. The intervention was associated with increases in participants’ initiation of and engagement in recreational activities with general-education peers, as well as increases in ratings of quality of interaction. In addition, participants typically assessed with accuracy their performance of recreational activities and whether they had achieved their recreational goals. Findings are discussed with respect to future research and practice.

Creating a SIS-A Annual Review Protocol to Determine the Need for Reassessment

The Supports Intensity Scale - Adult Version (SIS-A) has been widely adopted throughout North America and the world since its publication a little over a decade ago. Many organizations and jurisdictions operate under regulations that require an annual assessment of people who receive services and supports that are financed through public funds. The time and energy devoted to an annual SIS-A reassessment has become a concern in cases where the resulting information is largely redundant with information from a prior assessment. This article presents findings from an investigation of two approaches to creating a protocol to assist SIS-A users in distinguishing situations where there is a high likelihood that support needs have not changed in meaningful ways from situations where there is a reasonable possibility that support needs have changed. The SIS-A Annual Review Protocol was created based on these analyses as well as consideration of conceptual issues associated with support needs assessment. Ways in which this protocol might be used, as well as data that need to be collected to evaluate its usefulness, are discussed.

Impact of the Protection and Advocacy Subscale on the Factorial Validity of the Supports Intensity Scale-Adult Version

The Supports Intensity Scale-Adult Version is a standardized assessment of support needs. This study examined the factorial validity of the standardized portion of the scale, finding that the six-factor model (Home Living, Community Living, Lifelong Learning, Employment, Health and Safety, Social Activities) demonstrated good fit, and that the inclusion of the Protection and Advocacy Scale did not affect fit and contributed unique information. Age and gender impacted intensity of support needs, with those of transition age and in late adulthood having the highest intensities. Gender also impacted support needs, but in fewer instances. Implications for future research are discussed.

Recommendations of the Self-Determination and Self-Advocacy Strand From the National Goals 2015 Conference

This article reports the recommendations of the Self-Determination and Self-Advocacy Strand from the National Goals 2015 conference. The recommendations provide direction on research goals to advance policy and practice related to self-advocacy and self-determination over the next 10 years. Seven recommendations and multiple subrecommendations were developed over a 2-day meeting by leaders in the field of intellectual and developmental disabilities. The recommended goals provide direction for research initiatives related to collective self-advocacy and personal self-determination. Implications for the field are discussed.

A psychometric evaluation of the ARC-INICO Self-Determination Scale for adolescents with intellectual disabilities

The independence to decide and act as the causal agent in one's life are unchanging demands by empowerment movements focused on people with disabilities and by people with disabilities themselves. International efforts have been devoted to defining the concept of self-determination, analyzing its importance and relationship with the quality of life of people with disabilities and creating evaluation and promotion materials based on empirical evidences. The aim of this study is to present the process for developing and validating a new self-determination evaluation instrument for young people with intellectual disabilities: the ARC-INICO Scale. The sample for validating the Scale comprised 279 young people with intellectual disabilities, limited intellectual capacities and learning difficulties. The participants were aged between 11 and 19 years (M = 15.59, SD = 1.89). The results indicate that both the Scale and the four sections into which it is divided were reliable. The confirmatory factor analysis shows proof of validity based on the internal structure of the Scale, and confirms the correct fit of the proposed hierarchical structure. Practical implications and future directions of research are also discussed.

A Framework for Research and Intervention Design in Supported Decision-Making

Supported decision-making has emerged as an alternative to traditional models of guardianship as a means to support people with intellectual disability to be maximally included in the totality of their lives. Based on social-ecological models of disability that emphasize personal strengths and abilities and supports that enable people to fully participate in normative environments and contexts, supported decision-making has promise to enhance self-determination and quality of life. Research on factors related to decision making, on supports to enable people to fully engage in the decision-making process, and on efforts to design interventions that promote knowledge and skills pertaining to decision making are among the needed next steps to begin to realize the goal that people with intellectual disability are supported to make decisions. This article proposes a three-pronged framework for considering the design of assessments and interventions to promote supported decision-making; decision-making abilities, environmental demands for decision making, and support needs for decision making.

An interface to support independent use of Facebook by people with intellectual disability

Use of social networking sites, such as Facebook, is rapidly expanding, but people with intellectual disability are at risk for exclusion because sites like Facebook are not designed for cognitive access. The purpose of the present study was to describe the development and initial testing of a cognitively accessible prototype interface for Facebook, called Endeavor Connect, that was designed to support independent Facebook use by people with intellectual disability. The performance of young adults with intellectual disability when completing five common Facebook tasks was compared when using the Endeavor Connect and Facebook interfaces. Results suggest that, when using Endeavor Connect, young adults with intellectual disability completed more tasks independently with fewer errors and required fewer prompts. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

The Supports Intensity Scale–Children's Version: Preliminary Reliability and Validity

This article introduces the Supports Intensity Scale–Children's Version (SIS-C) designed and normed to be used with children across multiple contexts, including home, school, and community life. Steps taken to develop the scale are described, and findings from data collected on a field test version of the SIS-C are shared. Preliminary findings in regard to reliability and validity suggest that the SIS-C has strong psychometric properties.

Reliability and Validity of the Supplemental Protection and Advocacy Scale of the Supports Intensity Scale

Three separate studies were undertaken to examine the reliability and validity of the Supplemental Protection and Advocacy Scale (P&A Scale) of the Supports Intensity Scale (SIS). In Study 1, the interrater reliability of the P&A Scale was investigated when interviewers were trained in SIS administration and scoring. Pearson's product moment coefficients were considerably higher than coefficients reported in a previous study conducted with untrained interviewers. In Study 2, the reliability (internal consistency, standard error of measurement, and interrater reliability) and validity (content and construct validity) of the P&A Scale when administered by trained interviewers with a sample of individuals with intellectual disability and related developmental disabilities (ID/DD) receiving services from a state ID/DD agency were examined. Results indicated strong reliability and validity of the P&A Scale, comparable to other domains of the SIS. In Study 3, additional psychometric properties of the P&A Scale were examined in a large sample of trained interviewers from across the United States and Canada using the SIS Online, with findings again showing strong psychometric properties. Collectively, findings from these three investigations suggested that the P&A Scale is a reliable and valid measure of support needs. In future revisions of the SIS, the P&A Scale should be considered for inclusion in the section of the SIS that yields standard scores reflecting an individual's relative intensity of support need.

Self-determination and choice

Promoting self-determination and choice opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities has become best practice in the field. This article reviews the research and development activities conducted by the authors over the past several decades and provides a synthesis of the knowledge in the field pertaining to efforts to promote self-determination and choice.

Disability, disorder, and identity

The World Health Organization's International Classification of Diseases (ICD) is the most important diagnostic tool, worldwide, to ensure that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities receive the supports they need to live richer, fuller lives. And yet, the ICD has naming conventions that create a conundrum for the field, requiring that all "conditions" in the ICD be named as a "disorder." This article discusses the effect of naming on how people with intellectual disability are perceived by others and how they perceive themselves. The importance of continuing to move the field toward the adoption of functional/person-environment fit models of disability is discussed.

Establishing a Causal Relationship between Interventions to Promote Self-Determination and Enhanced Student Self-Determination

Promoting the self-determination of adolescents with disabilities has become best practice in secondary education and transition services, but to date there have been no studies establishing a causal relationship between efforts to promote self-determination and enhancement of the self-determination of youth with disabilities. This article reports a randomized trial, placebo control group study of 371 high school students receiving special education services under the categorical areas of mental retardation or learning disabilities. Students were randomly assigned to an intervention or control group (by high school campus), with students in the intervention condition receiving multiple instructional components to promote self-determination. Latent growth curve analysis showed that although all students in the study showed improved self-determination over the three years of the study, students in the intervention group showed significantly greater growth, though specific intra-individual variables impacted this growth. Implications for research and intervention are discussed.

Aligning Transition Services with Secondary Educational Reform: A Position Statement of the Division on Career Development and Transition

Society has witnessed significant improvements in the lives of students receiving transition services over the past 30 years. The field of transition has developed an array of evidence-based interventions and promising practices, however, secondary school reform efforts have often overlooked these approaches for youth without disabilities. If we are to see improvements in postsecondary outcomes for all youth, reform efforts must begin with active participation of both general and special educators and critical home, school, and community stakeholders. In the Division on Career Development for Exceptional Individuals' position paper, we discuss the evolution of transition in light of reform efforts in secondary education. We review and identify secondary educational initiatives that embrace transition principles. Finally, recommendations are provided for advancing alignment of transition services with secondary education reforms.

Effect of Intervention with the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction on Access and Goal Attainment

Promoting student self-determination has been identified as best practice in special education and transition services and as a means to promote access to the general education curriculum for students with disabilities. There have been, however, limited evaluations of the effects of interventions to promote self-determination on outcomes related to access to the general education curriculum. This article reports finding from a cluster or group-randomized trial control group study examining the impact of intervention using the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction on student academic and transition goal attainment and on access to the general education curriculum for students with intellectual disability and learning disabilities Findings support the efficacy of the model for both goal attainment and access to the general education curriculum, though students varied in the patterns of goal attainment as a function of type of disability.