Self-determination is an essential factor that impacts the outcomes of the administered intervention on the population with autism spectrum disorders; therefore, it is of importance. The researchers conducted this research to examine the reliability and validity. They hypothesized factor structure of two assessments of self-determination, the Arc’s Self-Determination Scale (SDS) and the American Institutes for Research Self-Determination Scale (AIR) in students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD).
The study consisted of a sample size of 95 middle and high school students. The sample consisted of 17% female and 83% males aged 13 through 21 years who participated in the study. The researchers conducted item analysis and confirmatory factor analysis separately for the SDS and AIR data.
Accumulatively, this study’s findings suggested that the two measures in this study show reliability and validity in measuring global self-determination in students with ASD. The parameter estimates and the model fit statistics support both instruments’ hypothesized factor structure (with slight variation for the SDS). Suggestions for future research and implications for educators are also discussed.
Reference: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1088357615611391
