Self-Determination

"There is not available a more comprehensive book in the area of self-determination."
—Melinda Pierson, Department of Special Education
California State University, Fullerton

"Unique because it provides direction for teaching and supporting self-determined behavior across all age groups and also within the general education classroom and curricula."
—Marianne Mooney, Senior Research Associate
TransCen, Inc., Post-Secondary Learning and Careers

Give students with disabilities powerful tools for success in school and in life!

Michael Wehmeyer and Sharon Field present research-proven instructional strategies that empower special needs students at all grade levels to make their own decisions.

Self-Determination offers detailed and current practitioner-oriented approaches in combination with extensive teacher reproducibles—all within the context of inclusion, standards-based reform, and access to the general curriculum. Linked to the IDEA requirement for individualized transition plans, this user-friendly resource assists practitioners in teaching the skills necessary for making decisions about employment, job skills, further schooling, and independent living. Educators will discover how to:

• Encourage students to become their own advocates by practicing assertive behavior
• Use needs-assessment techniques to determine the level of instruction required for each student
• Teach effective choice making, problem solving, and goal setting
• Support both families and fellow educators in their efforts to teach self-determination skills

Special education teachers, general educators, and administrators will find this handbook an invaluable guide for helping students establish their own goals and plan for a strong and healthy future!

Michael L. Wehmeyer, Ph.D. is Professor of Special Education; Director, Kansas University Center on Developmental Disabilities; and Associate Director, Beach Center on Disability, all at the University of Kansas. Dr. Wehmeyer is engaged in teacher personnel preparation in the area of severe, multiple disabilities and directs multiple federally funded projects conducting research and model development in the education of students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. He is the author of more than 180 articles or book chapters and has authored, co-authored or co-edited 19 books on disability and education-related issues, including issues pertaining to self-determination, transition, universal design for learning and access to the general curriculum for students with significant disabilities, and technology use by people with cognitive disabilities. He is a Fellow of the American Association on Mental Retardation, a past president of the Council for Exceptional Children’s Division on Career Development and Transition, and is Editor-in-Chief for the journal Remedial and Special Education. In 1999 Dr. Wehmeyer was the inaugural recipient of the Distinguished Early Career Research Award from the Council for Exceptional Children’s Division for Research. In May, 2003 he was awarded the American Association on Mental Retardation’s National Education award. Dr. Wehmeyer holds undergraduate and Masters degrees in special education from the University of Tulsa and a Masters degree in experimental psychology from the University of Sussex in Brighton, England, where he was a Rotary International Teacher of the Handicapped Fellow. He earned his Ph.D. in Human Development and Communication Sciences from the University of Texas at Dallas. Sharon Field, Ed.D., is Professor (Research) and Co-director of the Center for Self-Determination and Transition in the College of Education at Wayne State University. Her areas of specialization include self-determination, transition and life skills, and applied positive psychological practices. She has directed several federally funded transition and self-determination projects. Through these projects she developed, with Dr. Alan Hoffman, a model of self-determination and the Steps to Self-Determination curriculum and, with Drs. Alan Hoffman and Shlomo Sawilowsky, a self-determination assessment battery. She has written extensively on self-determination for persons with and without disabilities. Her work has included development of materials and strategies to promote self-determination at the early childhood, elementary, secondary and post-secondary levels. She is also the lead author of The Self-Determined Educator, a set of instructional modules for use in initial preparation and staff development settings designed to promote self-determination for teachers and Self-Determined Parenting , an instructional support program for parents. She has direct service experience in schools as a special education teacher, job placement specialist and administrator. Dr. Field earned her Master’s degree in Special Education from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and her Ed.D. in Educational Policy, Governance and Administration from the University of Washington.