Self-Determination and Individuals With Significant Disabilities: Examining Meanings and Misinterpretations

There appears to be a belief held by many people, both in the field of disability services and among people in the general public, that self-determination is a topic not rel-evant for people with significant disabilities. This article reviews how the term has been defined and conceptualized, examines misperceptions of the term that may have contributed to the exclusion of people with significant disabilities, and seeks to find common ground to move forward to promote self-determination for people with significant disabilities. DESCRIPTORS: adults, choice making, decision making, quality of life, Rehabilitation Act This special issue of JASH provides an opportunity to address a question that is important both for and to people with significant disabilities and for conceptual-izing and understanding self-determination: "How does self-determination apply to people with significant dis-abilities? " The importance of this question depends as much on what remains unasked but is often implied; that is, the underlying meaning of this question too often is "Does self-determination apply to people with the most significant disabilities? " Many people, including people working in the disability services field, ap-parently believe that people with significant disabilities cannot be self-determined, a state of affairs noted by several researchers and writers in this area (Brown &amp