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young adult. In addition to examining <strong>the</strong>
impact of guardianship, it was anticipated that
<strong>the</strong> young adults who participated in this study
would affirm an assumption that a schoolaged
young adult with developmental disability
who had full legal guardian appointed
would exhibit few, if any, self-determination
skills in comparison to a peer who did not
have a guardian. Surprisingly, this was not <strong>the</strong>
case. As a result, <strong>the</strong> findings of <strong>the</strong>se case
studies extend <strong>the</strong> research by providing <strong>the</strong>
first examination of how guardians, legal or
o<strong>the</strong>rwise, impact <strong>the</strong> self-determination opportunities
for school-aged young adults with
developmental disabilities.
Despite <strong>the</strong> importance of family and
teacher efforts to promote self-determination
of young adults, o<strong>the</strong>r forces (e.g., school administrator,
service providers) at times impeded
<strong>the</strong>m, as was seen with Kevin. This finding
that a teacher (transition coordinator)
actively promoted <strong>the</strong> development of students’
self-determination skills contrasts <strong>the</strong>
findings of <strong>the</strong> Wehmeyer, Agran, and
Hughes (2000) and Katsyannis, Zhang, Woodruff,
and Dixon (2005) studies where teachers
realized <strong>the</strong> importance of self-determination
skills, but did not necessarily teach <strong>the</strong>m. A
concern raised in this study, ra<strong>the</strong>r, is <strong>the</strong>
disconnect observed between <strong>the</strong> school administrator’s
perception of Kevin’s competence
and <strong>the</strong> parents’ values and teacher’s
role in helping <strong>the</strong> student demonstrate his
abilities. It was almost as if <strong>the</strong> fact that Kevin
had a developmental disability, <strong>the</strong> administrator
assumed incompetence.
Turnbull and Turnbull (2001) suggested
that individuals with developmental disabilities
most likely will require ongoing support
from o<strong>the</strong>rs to experience a quality life. Unfortunately,
in this study it appeared that
Kevin and his parents would be challenged
with building alliances that would enable
Kevin to be self-determined. Although <strong>the</strong>
transition coordinator and families are applauded
for teaching self-determination skills,
a need exists to work on such skill development
within a larger context, beyond <strong>the</strong>
school building. Teaching students self-determination
skills (e.g., making choices) is important,
but perhaps more important is ensuring
significant o<strong>the</strong>rs, including personal
assistants from community agencies, acknowl-
290 / Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities-September 2008
edge and respect <strong>the</strong> students’ communication.
It has been argued that individuals with
disabilities have had limited influence over
<strong>the</strong>ir lives and conversely have had <strong>the</strong>ir lives
unnecessarily controlled by o<strong>the</strong>rs (Lisi et al.),
and as a result, a cycle of dependency and less
independence may be created. Kevin’s parents
made substantial effort to establish environments
where <strong>the</strong>ir son could express and
fur<strong>the</strong>r develop his self-determination skills,
however Kevin’s expressions were stifled, even
in his own home. This finding is in contrast to
a study conducted by Wehmeyer, Kelchner,
and Richards (1995) who found that adults
with developmental disabilities who lived independently
were more self-determined than
individuals who lived in group homes. The
findings from this study are more aligned with
<strong>the</strong> results from <strong>the</strong> Wehmeyer and Metzler
(1995) study were adults with developmental
disabilities indicated that <strong>the</strong>y had limited
control over important life choices and decisions.
Wehmeyer and Metzler concluded that
people with developmental disabilities may be
in environments that are overly structured or
protective and do not place emphasis on opportunities
to make meaningful choices and
decisions and solve problems.
This study has also brought to light that
‘guardian’ may be interpreted in a variety of
ways. If not having a guardian means an individual
is living a life based on <strong>the</strong>ir values,
preferences, and choices without external
forces, Kevin had a guardian, and in fact several
– <strong>the</strong>y just were not court appointed.
Many of <strong>the</strong> decisions he attempted to communicate
(e.g., desire for a cola instead of
milk), although not life critical, were not honored.
For Jack, who had a legal guardian, it
was clear to whom he interacted with that he
made many decisions. Jack was exercising selfdetermination,
even with <strong>the</strong> fact he had a
legal guardian. The findings from this study
for one individual, Jack, suggest that guardian
appointments may not impact <strong>the</strong> day to day
decision-making of some individuals. His parents
admitted that <strong>the</strong>y have not needed to
use <strong>the</strong>ir legal authority, however, since <strong>the</strong>y
became legal guardians three years earlier. As
a point of caution, Jack’s situation may be
exceptional in that he had a family network to
support him which contrasts findings found in