Facilitating Self-Determination Through Education Planning
This chapter demonstrates how one parent utilised the Cycle of Learning to facilitate her son’s self-determination and self-advocacy skills. Self-determination is critically important in enabling individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to achieve
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Facilitating Self-Determination Through Education Planning
Abstract This chapter demonstrates how one parent utilised the Cycle of Learning to facilitate her son’s self-determination and self-advocacy skills. Self-determination is critically important in enabling individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to achieve long-term outcomes as they travel through school and into adult life. Supporting self-determination does not start when an individual is an adolescent, but must begin when they are very young. Parents and professionals can use strategies throughout their child’s life to support them to develop self-determination and to take charge of their own planning and problem-solving. Mitchell’s story exemplifies one adolescent’s journey towards developing self-determination. This chapter examines current research related to self-determination for individuals with ASD, and explores the benefits of self-determination and the implications for parents as they strive to develop their child’s self-determination, including helping them to become more self-aware, and to self-regulate and advocate for their own support. The final section presents research on the use of the Cycle of Learning to help parents identify evidence-based strategies that will help them to facilitate their child’s self-determination skills and provide them with opportunities to practise these skills to address problems in their child’s life. Finally, potential barriers that may impede parents and children with ASD from achieving their goals will be outlined, and possible strategies for overcoming these barriers discussed.
© Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2017 A. Webster et al., Empowering Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-2084-1_8
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8 Facilitating Self-Determination Through Education Planning
Illustration 8.1
Cycle of Learning Assess
Evaluate
Future Vision
Set Goals
Implement Strategy
8.1
Introduction
As demonstrated in the previous chapters, the Cycle of Learning (CoL) provides a useful framework for parents, enabling them to create learning plans that will help their child to achieve their hopes and dreams. As children grow and mature, however, it is important that parents help them to create and implement their own plans, providing them with a foundation of skills that will enable them to take charge of their own lives, and become independent and successful adults. By engaging with their children around the CoL, parents can facilitate their children’s skills in selfdetermination and enable them to identify their future visions, set priorities and goals, identify their strengths and weaknesses, formulate a plan of action and evaluate their own progress. Illustration 8.2
8.2 What Does the Research Tell Us?
8.2
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What Does the Research Tell Us?
The past 20 years have seen an increased awareness of the importance of allowing individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to self-advocate and create their own pathways (Wehmeyer, Bersani, & Gagne, 2000). As children w
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