Self-Determination Skills and Opportunities of Transition-Age Youth With Emotional Disturbance and Learning Disabilities

r: This study examined the self-determination of adolescents with emotional disturbance (ED) and learning disabilities (LD)from the perspectives of special educators, parents, and the students themselves. Differences in self-determination ratings were associated with both disability group and respondent Specifically, adolescents with ED were found to have lower ratings of selfdetermination than students with LD, with the most pronounced differences evident from the teacher perspective. Eurthermore, students with ED identified infrequent opportunities at school and home for engaging in self-determined behavior, whereas educators and parents differed in their assessments of opportunities in each setting. Implications regarding increasing the self-determination skills and opportunities of adolescents with disabilities are discussed. The importance of promoting self2004; President's Commission on Excellence in determination among adolesSpecial Education, 2002; Rehabilitation Act cents with disabilities has been Amendments of 1992 and 1998) and garnered highlighted in recent legislative, substantial attention in the published literature policy, and funding initiatives (e.g., Algozzine, Browdet, Karvonen, Test, & (Individuals with Disabilities Education ImproveWood, 2001; Malian & Nevin, 2002). Moreover, ment Act, 2004; National Council on Disability, research is accruing steadily that suggests that Exceptional Children 3 3 3 enhanced self-determination may play a role in improving student outcomes, including academic performance (Martin et al., 2003), employment status (Wehmeyer & Palmer, 2003), postsecondary participation (Field, Sarver, & Shaw, 2003), independence (Sowers & Powers, 1995), and quality of life (Wehmeyer & Schwartz, 1997). As a result, promoting students' self-determination now constitutes an important component of best practices in the education of transition-age youth with disabilities (e.g.. Council for Exceptional Children, 2003; Field & Hoffman, 2002; Field, Martin, Miller, Ward, & Wehmeyer, 1998). Successful postschool transitions require that adolescents assume more prominent roles in educational and life planning—understanding and communicating their strengths and needs, setting and working toward self-selected goals, advocating for themselves, and self-assessing their own progress and outcomes. Such actions characterize people who are self-determined and are presumed to improve adolescents' prospects for achieving personally meaningful outcomes (Field et al., 1998). Despite considerable efforts directed toward understanding and increasing the self-determination of adolescents with intellectual disabilities and learning disabilities, far less is known about the self-determination of high school students with emotional disturbance (ED). To illustrate, recent research reviews indicated that youth with ED represented less than 2% of participants in studies examining the impact of student involvement in educational planning (Test et al., 2004) and less than 4% of participants in studies evaluating the effectiveness of interventions aimed at promoting self-determination (Algozzine et al., 2001). Additional research is needed to address several gaps associated with the literature concerning the self-determination of students with ED. Descriptive data addressing the skills, knowledge, and perceptions of students with ED in the area of self-determination would assist researchers and practitioners in (a) identifying specific areas of strength and need, (b) developing instructional objectives and curricular materials, and (c) designing effective intervention efforts to increase self-determined behavior. The inand postschool outcomes of adolescents with ED—outcomes that generally are worse than for any other disability category—serve as indicators that students may exhibit substantial skill deficits in the area of self-determination (e.g., Wagner, Cameto, & Newman, 2003; Wood & Cronin, 1999). However, clear descriptive data addressing the selfdetermination of adolescents with ED remain absent from the literature. Few peer-reviewed studies have assessed the self-determination of high school students with ED and, of those that have included participants with ED, it is not possible to extract the ratings of these students from the larger sample (e.g., Houchins, 2002). Research on the self-determination of adolescents with ED would be strengthened when accompanied by comparisons to youth receiving special education services under other disability categories, particularly students with learning disabilities (LD). In many schools, students with ED and LD may be served by the same teachers and/or in similar classroom settings (Carlson, Brauen, Klein, Schroll, & Westat, 2002; Sabornie & deBettencourt, 2004). Such comparisons would provide information regarding whether . . . clear descriptive data addressing the self-determination of adolescents with ED remain absent from the literature. students with ED and LD share similar instructional needs in the area of self-determination and, if so, could inform decisions about whether similar intervention packages may be warranted. Because disability labels are associated with differences in adolescents' academic, social, and behavioral skills (e.g., Anderson, Kutash, & Duchnowski, 2001; Lane, Carter, Pierson, & Claeser, in press), it is plausible that similar differences exist in the area of self-determination. In fact, possible differences in self-determination skills among students may mediate some of the other discrepancies in the academic, social, and behavioral skills evident among students with ED and LD. In addition to understanding the extent to which students possess self-determination skills in their behavioral repertoires, it also is essential to evaluate the extent to which opportunities exist