Living with support in the community: Predictors of choice and self‐determination

Abstract

Ensuring that people with intellectual disability experience typical levels of choice and self-determination has become an essential objective for quality disability services. Three perspectives on self-determination were identified in the literature: psycho-educational, ecological, and socio-political. Personal characteristics, specific self-determination competencies, and environmental variables all were found to be associated with choice and self-determination. Living environments that were smaller and more individualized were linked to greater choice and self-determination. The theoretical perspective investigators applied to the issues influenced approaches to research and intervention, and differences in emphasis were evident regarding the relative importance of self-determination competencies and environmental factors.

Self-Determination and Choice

“…In the early to mid-1990s, research examined the degree to which people with intellectual disability were self-determined and experienced opportunities to make choices in their lives (Stancliffe & Wehmeyer, 1995 ;Wehmeyer & Metzler, 1995 ). The absence of standardized measures of self-determination relevant to people with intellectual disability necessitated an initial focus on choice-making and choice opportunities, and a general consensus emerged from this research that people with intellectual disability experienced few opportunities to make choices in their lives (Stancliffe, 2001 ). Wehmeyer and Metzler ( 1995 ) found that people with intellectual disability experienced signifi cantly fewer choice opportunities pertaining to where they lived, work and leisure activities, who they spent time with, and so forth.…”

Health‐promoting physical activity of adults with mental retardation

“…These are U.S. statistics, but the high costs of dependent care for people with MR have also been observed in other industrialized countries [Stancliffe and Keane, 2000;Polder et al, 2002]. Third, the emotional and social toll of inactivity is difficult to assess; however, people with MR have consistently expressed the desire for control over their own lives [Stancliffe, 2001]. If health is compromised due to inactivity, then independence will be limited.…”

Self-Determination across the Life Span: Issues and Gaps

“…Adults with more severe disabilities living in such settings typically have limited opportunities to make major life decisions and little input into the choice of staff in their home or with whom they share their residence. This is true even in those settings in which person-centered approaches are practiced (Abery, Ziegler, & Scholin, 2009;Stancliffe, 2001). The expression of self-determination is greatest for adults living semi-independently, which is most conducive to greater overall decision-making as well as choice over where and with whom to live (Stancliffe, Abery, & Smith, 2000a).…”