Self-Determination A Key to Success in Postsecondary Education for Students with Learning Disabilities

Self-determination should be a central organizing con-cept in postsecondary programs for all students with disabilities, including those with learning disabilities. The importance of self-determination is supported by numerous studies, including one by Sarver (2000), who found a significant relationship between the grade point averages of students with learning disabilities and their levels of self-determination. Interviews with students about post-secondary environments demonstrate that specific environmental factors and personality markers are important to postsecon-dary success. Characteristics of environments that support self-determination are discussed within the context of postsecondary education settings. These characteristics include self-determined role models, self-determination skill instruction, opportunities for choice, positive communication patterns and relationships, and availability of supports. Universal Design for Instruction, a new par-adigm for college students with learning disabilities, fosters self-determination by offering students productive opportunities for learning. SELF-DETERMINATION HAS RECENTLY BECOME A central concept in service delivery for persons with disabili-ties across their life span, from pre-K–12 educational services to adult settings. This emphasis emerged as a result of several factors. First, increased visibility of persons with disabilities came about as the logical extension of the independent liv-ing, normalization, and self-advocacy movements of recent decades (Ward, 1996). This visibility contributed to a growth in civil rights and legal protections that prohibited discrimi-nation based on disability and incorporated a focus on self-determination for persons with disabilities. A number of studie