Cognitive Impairments

Article Summary

Choice, a right or opportunity in which a person freely decided what he or she wants, is a

fundamental part of life and a necessary skill for major life transitions and for providing a high

quality of life (Cote Sparks and Cote, 2011). In the article Teaching Choice Making to

Elementary Students With Mild to Moderate Disabilities authors Shannon Cote Sparks and Debra

L. Cote discuss the importance of providing students with disabilities with choice and how to

teach them the necessary skills to make choices. Cote Sparks and Cote explain that choice often

involves a selection of a preference from several options and requires critical decision making in

addition to acceptance of the consequences of the final decision. For students with disabilities,

the opportunity for choice is defined as an expression of their wishes and desires and when

denied opportunities for choice making become prevented from advocating for themselves (Cote

Sparks and Cote, 2011).

Compared to their peers, students with disabilities encounter barriers when it comes to

choice making and are often fearful of making a wrong or unpopular choice. Some of the barriers

students might face include poor self-awareness, learned helplessness, and lack of recognition of

personal strengths or weaknesses (Cote Sparks and Cote, 2011). Teachers must explicitly teach

choice making skills and provide students with strategies to use as they make choices. Emphasis

should also be put on evaluating consequences for choices made. By doing this teachers can

create positive educational and personal experiences and opportunities for success in and out of

school and empower students with disabilities (Cote Sparks and Cote, 2011).

The authors explain that teaching strategies and skills needed for choice making can be

taught along side content in the classroom, incorporating academics and self-determination.

Where to sit and the order in which a student completes assigned tasks are simple ways to
incorporate choice instruction into daily routines. In order to successfully teach strategies and

skills needed to make choices teachers must be able to determine how students make choices, if

they can make age appropriate choices, and if they can follow sequential steps. Along with

making sure instruction and materials are relevant and age specific there are also certain goals a

teacher should keep in mind when teaching choice making. The goals are that choice is an

expression of preference and interest, having an understanding of the risk involved, and

evaluating the choice made (Cote Sparks and Cote, 2011).

Choice instruction and the sequential steps used to teach it are important because they can

provide a framework for students with disabilities to use anywhere. Cotes Sparks and Cotes

outline the steps as follows;

a) Create scenarios

b) Provide three choices

c) Recycle first choice

d) Evaluate

e) Recycle second choice

f) Re-evaluate

Providing students with the chance to recycle a choice allows them to provide justification if

they chose the best choice or consider the other options if they did not (Cote Sparks and Cote,

2011).

The article explains choice making instruction and the importance of teaching students

with disabilities to make choices in and out of the classroom setting.

 Source

Cote Sparks, S., & Cote, D. L. (2011). Teaching choice making to elementary students with mild

to moderate disabilities. Intervention in School and Clinic,47(5), 290-296.