AN AFFILIATE OF THE LIFE SPAN INSTITUTE & THE DEPT. OF SPECIAL EDUCATION

Beach Center on Disability

Self-Determination

RELATED RESOURCES


What It Is

Self-Determination refers to the process of being in charge of one's own life to the degree than a person and that person's family believe is important. Self-Determination involves the capacity, the needed supports, and the opportunity provided for making choices and decisions. These choices and decisions may be related to where a person lives, whether the person has a job, and how the person spends leisure time.

 

A practical guide to teaching self-determination

This book uses a question-and-answer format to walk the reader through the origins and importance of self-determination and to develop self-determination curricula and principles.

Steps to self-determination: A curriculum to help adolescents learn to achieve their goals (2nd ed.)

The new edition of this widely used text provides many new activities and incorporates suggestions from educators and families who used the curriculum over the last eight years.

Self-determination across the life span: Independence and choice for people with disabilities

Edited by Deanna J. Sands and Michael L. Wehmeyer in 1996, this book  is a classic in the annals of self-determination for individuals with disabilities.  It was originally published by Paul H. Brookes Publishing, Baltimore, MD but is now out of print.   The pdf copies of each chapter are included here with the permission of Bookes Publishing so that these classic, but still applicable writings of a number of experts in the field, are still available to the public.  


A Teacher's Guide to Implementing the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction: Early Elementary Version

The Early Elementary Version of the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SEDLMI) for teachers focuses on supporting problem solving and goal setting in classrooms for young children in grades k-3. Supports and directions for the SDLMI are provided to focus especially on the early elementary years, to accompany the Parent's Guide to the SDLMI, also on the Beach Center web site.

A parents' guide to the self-determined learning model for early elementary students

This guide presents information on preparing for later self-determination and provides a guide for problem solving and goal setting for parents to use with children.

Parenting a child with sensory processing disorder: A family guide

The book introduces SPD and offers an overview of what it means to live with and care for a child with the condition.

Promoting Self-Determination in Students with Developmental Disabilities

Self-Determination: Instructional and Assessment Strategies

Theory in Self-Determination: Foundations of Educational Practice