ABSTRACT
Our explanation for why students with disabilities report lower levels of self-determination is that their disabling conditions affect their beliefs about whether a circumstance is an obstacle or an opportunity for gain and whether they can adjust in order to gain from it. These beliefs about opportunities and capabilities in turn affect their prospects for self-determination. The study described in chapter 4 supported this view in that comparisons between students with disabilities reported lower adjustment and self-determination ratings than did students without disabilities. The studies described in chapters 5 and 6 supported similar differences among adult learners with and without disabilities and among students with and without disabilities in another country.
