Instructional Content and Self-Determination in Individualized Education Program Annual Goals for Students With Extensive Support Needs.

Under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, individualized education program (IEP) annual goals are required to enable students with disabilities to be involved in and make progress in the general education curriculum and to address other educational needs. This study reports findings from a content analysis of the annual goals in 88 IEPs for K-12 students with extensive support needs. Results reflect a lack of comprehensive academic content goals to promote involvement and progress in the general education curriculum, and limited opportunities for students to develop skills associated with self-determination. Findings also show a focus within goals on student compliance rather than the development of meaningful skills and knowledge. Implications for research and practice are provided.

Understanding Career Goals Set by Autistic Youth.

IMPORTANCE: Recent years have seen a shift to strengths-based approaches promoting self-determination and career-related interests among autistic youth. Research is needed to understand the career-related goals set by autistic youth on the basis of their interests. OBJECTIVE: To descriptively explore the career design goals set by autistic youth engaged in the self-determined career design model (SDCDM) intervention. DESIGN: Content analysis was used to analyze the types of goals set by youth during intervention. Two researchers separately reviewed the goal set by each autistic youth (one goal per youth) and determined categories for each goal. SETTING: Preferred community location (usually the youth's home) in an urban Midwestern city. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-one autistic youth. INTERVENTION: SDCDM. OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Participants set goals as part of the SDCDM, which were recorded using Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS). Researchers used GAS to support each participant in setting a measurable and objective goal and describing criteria for meeting the goal. RESULTS: Categories included enhancing self-management, obtaining employment, exploring career opportunities, enhancing learning, and enhancing self-advocacy. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: The findings from this study indicate that autistic youth set goals related to obtaining employment and enhancing generalizable 21st-century skills, such as self-advocacy and self-management. What This Article Adds: The SDCDM is a tool occupational therapy practitioners can use to support youth in setting and working toward career goals.

Goal Attainment Scaling: A Framework for Research and Practice in the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Field.

Goal setting and attainment is often a targeted outcome in the intellectual and developmental disabilities field; however, standardizing the measurement of attainment of individualized goals is challenging. The purpose of this article is to introduce a four-domain framework that provides a series of questions to research and evaluation teams in planning for the use of goal attainment scaling (GAS) as an outcome measure at the individual or aggregate level. We intend to stimulate discussion and ongoing work to further systematize how GAS is used in (a) intervention research to establish evidence-based practices and (b) practice to assess the extent to which interventions and supports lead to intended outcomes. The goal is to promote a clear planning process to inform data collection on individualized goal attainment outcomes that are rooted in goals and outcomes valued by people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Employment Trends in Rhode Island From 2011 to 2017 for Adults With Intellectual Disability and Developmental Disabilities.

This study reports on state-level data in Rhode Island on employment and non-work activities of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities receiving services between 2011 and 2017. The goal was to examine the complex patterns of change over time in individual-level employment outcomes and the potential short-term impacts of a consent decree entered into by the state of Rhode Island to address integrated employment outcomes. Findings suggest that policy initiatives such as the consent decree can lead to reductions in reliance on facility-based work, but also highlight the importance of planning for the transition to competitive, integrated employment and not simply a shift toward non-work activities. Further, the data support the notion that the best predictor of integrated employment over time is previous experiences in integrated employment (not facility-based or other work or non-work activities), suggesting the role of ongoing supported employment and transition services that create and support the maintenance of integrated employment.

Examining the Impact of the SDLMI and Whose Future Is It? Over a Two-Year Period With Students With Intellectual Disability.

The purpose of this study was to examine self-determination outcome data in the year following a one-year cluster randomized controlled trial (C-RCT) comparing the impacts of a Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI) only condition to a SDLMI + Whose Future Is It? (SDLMI + WF) condition. Using multilevel B-spline model analysis with Bayesian estimation, we examined ongoing patterns of growth after the trial ended and all students were exposed to SDLMI + WF. The findings suggest that the inclusion of an additional year of outcome data provided additional insight into the impact of more intensive intervention conditions over time. Specifically, after the initial year of implementation, the SDLMI + WF condition predicted greater annual gains than the SDLMI only condition, unlike findings in the first year which reflected the opposite pattern. This evidence suggests a nonlinear growth pattern over multiple years of intervention with more intensive interventions. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

The Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction and Students With Extensive Support Needs in Inclusive Settings.

There is a strong link between the development of skills associated with self-determination (i.e., choice-making, decision-making, problem solving, goal setting and attainment, planning, self-management, self-advocacy, self-awareness, and self-knowledge) and positive school (e.g., academic achievement) and postschool (e.g., employment, community access) outcomes. In this article, we advocate for an examination of research related to the impact, usability, and cultural sustainability of an evidence-based intervention intended to enable students to enhance skills associated with self-determination, the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI), when used to support students with extensive support needs, including students with intellectual and developmental disability (IDD). Theoretical foundations of the construct of self-determination and its applicability for all people and extant research on implementation of the SDLMI and students with extensive support needs are presented. Implications for researchers are addressed, including the impact, usability, and cultural sustainability of the SDLMI for students with extensive support needs, and the potential of the SDLMI to support all students in inclusive settings when implemented as a universal support.