VIDBE-Q Volume 68 Issue 2
20
acting on the basis of these skills and attitudes, individuals have greater
ability to take control of their lives and assume the role of successful adults
in society. (p. 115)
Now what does this really mean? In essence, if we utilize the seven component
skill areas defined by Wehmeyer (1997) we can set our students up for success,
whatever that may look like for them individually. The seven component skill
areas are: (1) Choice making, (2) Decision making, (3) Problem solving, (4) Goal
making and attainment, (5) Self-regulation/self-management, (6) Self-advocacy
and leadership, and (7) Self-awareness and self-regulation. Many of us are already
utilizing instruction in some of the skills, and definitions which I received from
practicing TVIs use these skill areas to demonstrate teachers' understanding of
self-determination.
Let me illustrate how to embed self-determination and its related component
skills by starting with a SMART Goal. Well written IEP goals are based on
continuous assessment, with student's needs for accessing the now, as well as what
will support them to grow into adults functioning as independently as possible.
Furthermore, goals vision professionals are expected to write cannot be copied
from IEP goal banks as the ECC is different from that of the academic curriculum.
I also want to highlight that in any of my teaching in the classroom or in webinars I
highlight ways in which the ECC areas overlap and can be embedded into any
