The field of special education recognizes the need to foster self-determination among students with disabilities; here we argue that support for self-determination must begin long before students leave schools to assume adult responsibilities of work, independent living, and community participation. We begin by describing developmental investigations of metacognition, self-perception, social problem solving, and autonomous decision making. Because development occurs within the context of interpersonal relationships, we discuss critical attributes of the social environment that must be considered if efforts to support self-determination are to be successful. Our examination of the developmental underpinnings of self-determination leads us to conclude that attention must shift to (a) supporting basic research on the emergence of self-determined behaviors in young children; (b) promoting policies that draw attention to elementary and middle school contributions to self-sufficiency; and (c) ameliorating aspects of the curricular, instructional, and service delivery systems that foster dependence, while expanding students' opportunities to exercise choice and engage in self-enhancing independence.
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