Self-Advocacy and Self-Determination in Special Education

Introduction

The inclusion of disabled individuals in the general social, educational, and occupational contexts that are welcoming to mainstream populations is a goal which appears to parallel the progressive orientation of our culture. Modern education shows evidence of the trend toward change, facilitating the increasing integration of individuals who are physically, emotionally, or learning disabled into public and private schools. This trend has been a decidedly positive one, with legal, economic, and educational strategies coming together to present an effective and productive shift in the way we address disabilities.

Inclusive practice, which holds that educational institutions should be responsible for assimilating disabled students into mainstream classroom settings and for providing them with the support needed to succeed therein, presents a number of challenges to educators. Chief among these is the determination of appropriate curricular methods, which can represent a wide range of continually evolving responsibilities for instructors.

The research presented here is designed to illuminate the subject of self-determination for students with special education needs across an array of contexts and spanning the full range of special needs. The emphasis on inclusion reflects an interest in helping students with special needs achieve a level of educational growth comparable to those in the mainstream population. This is an interest which the research here will demonstrate to be directly tied to the benefits of personal growth, intellectual development, and the development of emotional confidence — all of which are correlated with the enforcement of self-determination. Therefore, the research and analysis conducted here are intended to reinforce the hypothesis that constructing a special education curriculum and shaping the unique Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) dedicated to each special needs student according to ambitions of self-determination can have a significantly beneficial impact on the educational and personal development of that student.

Background

The literature review that follows will consider the increasingly evident value in focusing inclusive special education according to the will, desires, and interests expressed by the student. Allowing self-determination and encouraging self-advocacy have the potential not only to enhance individual engagement in one's own educational process, but also to begin instilling in the student a capacity for independence that will be crucial for making a successful transition to secondary or occupational education. If the primary purpose of inclusive education is to actually pursue its stated ambitions of helping special needs students make the leap to further education or a profession, then this focus on easing the transition is essential. There is a wide range of resources available to students completing their publicly funded education that are not sufficiently utilized by families, schools, or communities, and there is empirical reason to believe that there is a social imperative for refining and better illuminating these resources.

Accordingly, we find that "existing research is very persuasive on the need to improve transitions for young disabled people. It can also be used to provide clues as to the sorts of support and service configurations that need to be in place to ensure positive transitions" (Beresford, 585). This constitutes the primary impetus for the transition plan recommended here. By helping the student to actively identify his or her own needs and to recognize his or her own detectable skills, an educational institution and family can help channel those abilities into a desirable and productive future path.

To consider one of the primary motivations behind this research, general discussion on the importance of transition services indicates that this is an area of great uncertainty in the field. For parents and special needs students alike, current conventions in the approach to special education do not work toward the interests of transition. Many of the strategies in place in public school special education — even in inclusion education — are too narrowly focused on day-to-day successes without taking into account the larger implications of education. The study by Katsiyannis et al. (1998) provides a critical assessment of special education as failing to focus on transition needs, identifying a need for goals of self-determination to be pursued through strategies of self-advocacy on the part of students. As Katsiyannis et al. indicate, "researchers, disability advocates, and practitioners have concluded that the fragmented system of services within high schools and adult services are contributing to the failure of special education to prepare these youths for the future. This sentiment of an 'uncertain' future in postschool environments is often reported by parents of students with disabilities" (Katsiyannis, 55). This uncertainty must be addressed through the tools and constructs already in place for addressing individual education needs.

The self-advocacy curriculum considered subsequent to the literature review will center on integrating personal interest with access to transitional support services into the disabled individual's IEP. In many ways, this will require a paradigm shift on the part of educators, educational institutions, and even the parents of special needs students who have collectively perceived a need to provide high-level assistance and authority over said students. A change in perspective will be necessary to help these important parties make the necessary accommodations while simultaneously helping the student to articulate his or her own expectations and needs in the process.

The primary resources required to facilitate this paradigm shift will be the agencies and individuals devoted to assisting the disabled person in education, occupation, and daily life. Through the incorporation of these positive forces as lifelong instruments in the disabled person's success, the IEP should play a fundamental part in helping to identify and build upon the student's capacity for self-determination. According to the Department of Education, "the IEP creates an opportunity for teachers, parents, school administrators, related services personnel, and students (when appropriate) to work together to improve educational results for children with disabilities. The IEP is the cornerstone of a quality education for each child with a disability" (DOE, 2). Through the proper orientation of students toward the options available by way of a self-determined IEP, we can enable students to become better acquainted with the responsibilities and realities of self-advocacy they will encounter upon reaching adulthood.

Conclusion

Research overwhelmingly supports the argument that methods of encouraging self-advocacy and invoking long-term self-determination are not just constructive and valuable for students, but that current models which fail to achieve this result are actually damaging to the potential of special needs students to achieve educational success, professional development, or a desirable quality of life. The argument in favor of creating a greater emphasis on self-advocacy through curriculum design is underscored by research supporting its proven long-term transition and lifestyle benefits; by the broad-based consensus among educators as to the value of self-determination for special needs students; and by prevailing legal, ethical, and practical standards concerning the treatment of special needs or disabled persons in American education and society.