Alan Hoffman

Development of A Model for Self-Determination:

SELF-DETERMINATION is rapidly gaining attention and acceptance within the disability field, particularly with respect to the transition from school to adulthood movement. This is occurring as persons with disabilities, their families, educators and service providers are questioning the passive stereotypes and roles often assigned to persons with disabilities which are in direct conflict with typical expectations of adults. Recent legislation reinforced the importance of self-determination for students with disabilities. The Individuals With Disabilities Education

The Importance of Family Involvement for Promoting Self-Determination in Adolescents with Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities

Self-determination has recently become an important concept in special education and disability services. The concept of self-determination is defined and component skills delineated. Some of the component skills of self-determination may pose particular challenges to people with autism and other developmental disabilities due to the difficulties in communication skills and social relationships experienced by many people in this population. Family involvement is an important variable affecting the development and expression of self-determination in people with autism and other developmental disabilities. Strategies to promote and support parental involvement in self-determination instruction are discussed.

Preparing Youth to Exercise Self-Determination Quality Indicators of School Environments That Promote the Acquisition of Knowledge, Skills, and Beliefs Related to Self-Determination

If youth with disabilities are to be adequately prepared to maximize opportunities for self-determination in adulthood, they need to be equipped with the knowledge, beliefs, and skills that lead to self-determination in their educational programs. This article identifies quality indicators of educational programs that promote self-determination. The quality indicators are holistic in nature and address the self-determination of all members of the school community. Guidelines for using the quality indicators for program improvement are provided.

Promoting Self-Determination through Effective Curriculum Development.

Describes curriculum efforts as a result of two major federal initiatives

Lessons Learned From Implementing the Steps to Self-Determination Curriculum:

This article describes a system of supports for implementing the Steps to Self-Determination curriculum and discusses findings from studies on the curriculum, all of which used a pre-post design with Steps as the intervention. Findings from outreach efforts to support implementation of Steps include teachers who are self-determined are better able to promote self-determination for their students, self-determination needs to be supported at all levels in the school organization, self-determination knowledge and skills can be infused successfully in a variety of subject areas, there are many ways to involve parents in self-determination instruction, support for positive relationships is central to self-determination, and achievement of valued goals is an important element of self-determination instruction. Practical strategies teachers have used to adapt or enhance the curriculum are presented.

Self-control of chronic fingernail biting

Abstract Volunteer chronic fingernail biters participated in a behavioral self-control program that employed self-monitoring, self-punishment, and self-reward techniques. Gains in nail length and improved cosmetic appearance persisted through a follow-up evaluation. Although the comprehensive self-control program appears to be highly effective, the relative efficacy of individual treatment components was not clearly established.