ABSTRACT

Over the past two decades, promoting the self-determination of students with disabilities has become a best practice in secondary education and transition services (Wehmeyer, Abery, Mithaug, & Stancliffe, 2003; Wehmeyer, Agran, Hughes, Martin, Mithaug, & Palmer, 2007). This chapter will provide an overview of the major theoretical models that have been developed and validated to drive intervention development, examine research that documents the importance of promoting self-determination during the adolescent transition period, and discuss instructional and assessment models that have been shown to be effective for use in promoting self-determination. Finally, we conclude the chapter with a discussion of the role of families in promoting self-determination and the importance of teachers’ selfdetermination.