Can Students with Severe Disabilities Benefit from Instruction to Promote Self-Determination?
The most frequently identified barrier was that teachers did not believe students would benefit from such instruction. This reason is at the heart of a perception that people with severe disabilities cannot be self-determined because of the nature or extent of their impairment (Wehmeyer, 1998). However, such perceptions are based on misperceptions of self-determination as equivalent to being completely independent or autonomous and in absolute control of one’s life. Many students with severe disabilities will not be able to learn all the skills and knowledge needed to solve difficult problems. However, this is equally true for most areas in which students with severe disabilities receive instruction, a situation that has been dealt with by the principle of partial participation (Baumgart et al., 1982). This principle states that even if a student cannot do all steps in a task or activity, he or she can likely learn at least one step and maximize his or her participation. There are port
Related Questions
- Is the PASA only for students with severe or multiple disabilities or students in Autism Support, who are not involved in academic instruction?
- What can students with disabilities in postsecondary settings do to increase self-determination skills?
- IS INSTRUCTION WITH TYPICAL PEERS IMPORTANT FOR ALL STUDENTS WITH SEVERE DISABILITIES?
