Disability Identity and Self-Determination for Students With Learning Disabilities

Given that self-knowledge is recognized as a key component of self-determined behavior, intentionally teaching students with learning disabilities (LD) about their identified disability can create conditions needed for future self-determined behavior. In the following article, action steps are provided that are useful for fostering development of vital self-knowledge, self-advocacy skills, and self-determination. These steps toward self-determination are built on a foundation of self-knowledge that includes disability, and self-advocacy skill practice that can be implemented with elementary, middle, and high school students identified with LD.