1.07 - The Self-Determined Career Development Model - Page 6
If you have not achieved what you wanted, go back to Phase II-Action Plan. Was the plan implemented? Is the timing enough or too much? Was this the best action plan?
If Phase II is fine, return to Phase I. Was the goal wrong? Does it need to be narrowed to be a more achievable goal? If the goal is reset, return through the entire process.
If this goal is achieved, go back to short and long-term goals. Is there another related goal to work on? The person may be working on several related goals at the same time depending upon their capacity to work on multiple tasks.
Facilitators can support the person with the disability to ask and answer each of the four questions within each phase. The questions need to remain consistent in intent across all instructional situations so that the person with the disability will learn the question sequence and a self-regulated, problem solving approach. The facilitator should discuss what each question means and support the person with the disability to re-word the question while keeping the intent constant. Learning, modifying or individualizing and using the questions will enable the person with the disability to become a more effective problem solver.
Each of the four questions, under each of the three phases is linked to a set of facilitator objectives. These objectives give the facilitator strategies for assisting the person with the disability to answer each of the questions. The facilitator is not limited to objectives listed. Other objectives and supports may be developed as needed.
For each of the phases, shown in Figures 1, 2, and 3, a list of Employment Supports is contained on the right hand column of the page. Employment Supports represent a variety of strategies that have been used to instruct people with disabilities, including people with significant disabilities, how to manage their behavior. Employment Supports address a variety of topics including: Self-Awareness, Job and Career Preferences and Abilities, Choice-Making, Decision-Making, and Goal-Setting. The majority of these Employment Supports derive from self-management resources and are simple skill development packages. Employment supports provide additional resources for skill development and are designed to be implemented with facilitator support. Facilitators will work with people with disabilities to utilize the Employment Supports that are most useful to him or her.
In some cases, a facilitator may find specific activities useful in assisting a person with disabilities to answer questions in each phase. These activities can then be used to help generate discussion that lead to answering the model questions. Employment Activity Forms have been prepared as an additional resource. Employment Activity Forms cover topics such as identifying job interests, natural supports, strengths, and unique qualities. Employment Activity Forms are small discrete exercises that can be used to increase discussion on topics related to answering the questions.
As important as it is to utilize self–directed learning strategies, not every instructional strategy has to be directed by the person with the disability. Nor does everything self-directed have to be independent performance. Causal agents do not necessarily do everything for themselves but they choose which things they do and the things they do not want to do.
Page updated 10/12/06
All instructional content © Copyright 2006 by Michael L. Wehmeyer, Ph.D. All rights reserved.
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