Teaching Choice Making to Elementary Students With Mild to Moderate Disabilities

Typically developing children make choices daily. As they transition throughout school, they learn to evaluate the outcomes of their choices. However, elementary-age children with disabilities often experience difficulties in developing choice-making skills. Some of the barriers that impede the deve...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Intervention in school and clinic 2012-05, Vol.47 (5), p.290-296
Main Authors: Sparks, Shannon Cote, Cote, Debra L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Barriers
Decision Making
Direct Instruction
Disabilities
Disabled students
Elementary School Students
Helplessness
Interests
Metacognition
Risk
Skill Development
Teaching
Teaching Methods
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Summary:Typically developing children make choices daily. As they transition throughout school, they learn to evaluate the outcomes of their choices. However, elementary-age children with disabilities often experience difficulties in developing choice-making skills. Some of the barriers that impede the development of these skills include poor self-awareness, learned helplessness, low self-esteem, self-deprecation, and lack of recognition of personal strengths or weaknesses. Thus, for many students with mild to moderate disabilities, the development of choice-making skills and the ability to evaluate the outcome of the choice are not innate. Choice making is a skill that must be taught using direct instruction so that students have strategies to use as they make and evaluate choices. Choice making and evaluation can be incorporated into daily routines and interactions in the classroom. When teaching choice making to elementary students with disabilities, teachers must ascertain (a) how students express choice, (b) their abilities to make age-appropriate choices, and (c) their abilities to follow sequential steps in making choices. Goals of choice-making instruction include (a) the expression of preferences and interests, (b) understanding the risk involved when making a choice, and (c) evaluation of the choice made. A teacher should assess students' present skills in expressing choice before teaching choice making. Following assessments, students should be presented with the sequential steps for making choices, which are discussed in this article. Throughout instruction, the teacher can monitor students' skills in choice making. (Contains 3 tables and 3 figures.)
ISSN:1053-4512
1538-4810
DOI:10.1177/1053451211430123