Specific Learning Disability Study

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

People make numerous decisions every day that have varying degrees of importance to their well-being. Being able to make decisions influences the short and long term paths that are available to students as a member of a school setting and then as a community member. Making decisions is one of the skills examined in the self-determination theory with students with learning disabilities (U. S. Department of Education, 2013). As noted by the United States Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, the most frequent special education disability classification category is Specific Learning Disabilities. According to the United States Department of Education, 13% of the students in schools are

For students with disabilities, utilizing self-determination strategies may help with obtaining, accessing, and benefitting from classroom modifications such as having a note-taker, extended time on tests, and testing in a small group environment. The reason that the LD category will be selected for this study is because of the 13 educational classifications defined by IDEA, the LD category is the most frequently utilized for eligibility and as such has the greatest opportunity for adjustment in the school and postsecondary environment. In this mid-Atlantic State, the Department of Education has calculated that of the 220,000 students found eligible for special education, over 73,000 students or 5.28% are identified as eligible with the Specific Learning Disability classification in 2013 (Department of Education, 2013). In preparing a student with a LD to transition from secondary school to a postsecondary setting such as college or a vocational setting, acquisition of self-determination strategies comes into play.

Research has resulted in the formation of self-determination curricula such as Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (Cho, Wehmeyer, & Kingston, 2012, p. 27). Intertwined in this research has been the abstract concept of where to draw the line between enabling and empowering

This act requires the implementation of a timeline in conjunction with student directed goals. These transitional goals are put into motion at the onset of the student turning 14 years old and to a more detailed routine at 16 years old. The student plays a pivotal role in the selection of these transitional goals that explicitly take into consideration the student’s interests and future aspirations. These goals pertain to the topics of postsecondary interest, community activities, and family interests to live independently or in some levels of structured environment after graduation, and employment