Perceived Self-Determination Growth During an International Expedition for Adolescents With and Without Disabilities

Abstract

Abstract Two factors that positively influence success in school and in post-school settings are self-determination and social programs such as expeditions for students with and without disabilities. This mixed methods study examined the benefits of a two-week international expedition to Nepal for adolescents (ages 14-18) with and without disabilities from the United States. The researchers measured self-determination in student participants utilizing the Self-Determination Inventory: Student Report (Shogren et al., 2020) as a pre/post-program measure and the No Barriers USA Program Evaluation (Duerden et al., 2016) as post-program measure. Twelve adolescents and four adult leaders who participated in the international expedition were interviewed to determine their perceptions of the benefits for students. The self-determination scores of student participants significantly increased (p = .007) after participation in the two-week expedition. Four major themes emerged from the data: disability and identity, self-determination growth, accessing supports, and sense of purpose. Using a mixed methods approach, we compared and integrated findings that support previous studies indicating that social programs increase self-determination skills. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.