Reimagining Self-Determination in Research, Education, and Disability Services and Supports

Bibliographic Data

ID12364805
AuthorsCharles B Walters (0000-0003-2424-8353, University of Maryland, College Park, corresponding author), Rebecca B Smith Hill (0000-0002-7761-1534, University of South Carolina-Columbia, USA), Amanda M Waldron (Youth Engagement Transition Initiative (YETI), a joint project of the National Technical Assistance Center on Transition: The Collaborative (NTACT:C) and the RAISE Center, USA), Cadence J Russell (Youth Engagement Transition Initiative (YETI), a joint project of the National Technical Assistance Center on Transition: The Collaborative (NTACT:C) and the RAISE Center, USA), Nour Mansour (Youth Engagement Transition Initiative (YETI), a joint project of the National Technical Assistance Center on Transition: The Collaborative (NTACT:C) and the RAISE Center, USA), Josie Badger (Youth Engagement Transition Initiative (YETI), a joint project of the National Technical Assistance Center on Transition: The Collaborative (NTACT:C) and the RAISE Center, USA), Everett Deibler (Youth Engagement Transition Initiative (YETI), a joint project of the National Technical Assistance Center on Transition: The Collaborative (NTACT:C) and the RAISE Center, USA), Karrie A Shogren (0000-0001-7925-1299, The University of Kansas-Lawrence, USA)
Year2025
Publication date2025-12-26
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Disability Policy Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1044-2073 • E-ISSN: 1538-4802
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/10442073251404904
OpenAlexW7117302340
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited72

After decades of work to advance policy, research, and practice focused on self-determination for people with disabilities, the importance of self-determination is widely acknowledged in education and disability service systems. While the benefits of the growing recognition of the importance of self-determination have been many, there have also been some unintended consequences. One such consequence has been the de-centering of disabled leadership and subsequent confusion about whether the term self-determination refers to an outcome, a program, an intervention, a value, a right, or a movement. In this article, written by an inclusive team of authors, we invite readers to join us in reimagining self-determination, considering ways to further contextualize the concept of self-determination within the practical reality of its application. We offer a discussion of the necessity of continuing to center lived disability expertise and implications for policy, research, and practice in this reimagined approach to self-determination

Confusion · Disability studies · Independent living · Join (topology · Learning disability · Lived experience · Service (business · Work (physics · Disability Education and Employment · Disability Rights and Representation · Healthcare innovation and challenges

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