Domain-Specific Competencies

For each of the areas indicated in figure 6, youth were asked to report on a 4-point scale whether they thought they were "very good, (4 points)" "pretty good," "not very good," or "not at all good" (1 point). A sizeable percentage of youth with disabilities believe themselves to be at least "pretty good" in each of these areas, which varies, depending on the skill, from 53 percent who rate themselves as "pretty good" or "very good" in performing arts to 79 percent who give similar ratings to their physical or athletic abilities. More than one-third (35 percent) consider themselves to be "very good" athletes. In the current age of rapidly growing technology, one-third of youth with disabilities (33 percent) state they are "very good" at using a computer. Twenty-six percent report that their mechanical skills are "very good," about 1 in 5 (21 percent) rate their creative arts abilities as "very good," and 15 percent consider their performing arts skills as being "very good."

At the same time, many youth with disabilities think they do not have artistic talent. Almost half (47 percent) report they are "not very" or "not at all good" at creative or performing arts. More than one third (39 percent) consider themselves to be "not very" or "not at all good" at mechanical manipulations. Approximately one in five (21 percent) give themselves low ratings for being proficient at physical activities, and about one in seven report they are "not very" or "not at all good" at using a computer (14 percent).

Figure 6: Youth with disabilities' reported self-evaluations of their strengths and abilities

Parents of youth included in this report were asked to rate their children on the same set of strengths and abilities using the same 4-point scale. A comparison of parents' and youth's perceptions indicates that, overall, parents tend to hold higher opinions of their children's strengths than youth hold of themselves. Parents are more likely than youth to consider the youth to be "very good" at four of the five skills and abilities—reporting more positive ratings for using a computer (56 percent vs. 33 percent, p < .001), having mechanical skills (37 percent vs. 26 percent, p < .01), being skilled in the creative arts (35 percent vs. 21 percent, p < .001), and being skilled in the performing arts (28 percent vs. 15 percent, p < .001).

Despite these differences, parents' and youth's perceptions are related to each other in that youth who hold higher estimates of their abilities tend to have parents who also hold high estimates of the youth's abilities and vice versa. Values on the 4-point response scale that were reported by parents for each skill area were correlated with scale values reported by youth. All five comparisons of ratings between parents and youth have correlation coefficients of .35 or higher (p < .001). Correlations between parents' and youth's perceptions range from r = .35 (p < .001) for ratings related to computer use to r = .46 (p < .001) for ratings related to physical/athletic abilities.

In addition to these five domains of competence already presented, NLTS2 investigated the self-evaluations of the self-advocacy skills of youth with disabilities. Such skills are an important element of "self-determination," a concept that has emerged in the special education field to describe a combination of skills, knowledge, and beliefs—including an understanding of one's own strengths and limitations and belief in oneself as capable and effective in interacting with peers and adults to meet those needs—that enables individuals to engage in goal-directed, self-regulated, autonomous behavior (Field et al. 1998).

Youth with disabilities give generally positive reports of their competence in interacting with peers and adults. When asked to report on a 3-point scale, ranging from "not at all like you" (1 point) to "very much like you" (3 points), how much three statements about their beliefs in their competence were like them (figure 7), 55 percent of youth indicate that the statement "You can tell other people your age how you feel when they upset you or hurt your feelings" is "very much" like them. Regarding dealing with adults, almost two-thirds (65 percent) agree that the statement "You can get school staff and other adults to listen to you" is "very much" like them, and a similar percentage of youth (63 percent) indicate that the statement "You know how to get the information you need" is "very much" like them.

Figure 7: Youth with disabilities' reported self-evaluations of self-advocacy skills

A fourth aspect of self-advocacy was measured for the subgroup of youth with disabilities who responded affirmatively that they consider themselves to have a disability and that they are receiving services or therapies because of a disability. This subgroup of youth was asked to report on a 3-point scale how often they "tell professionals what you think about the services they provide you" on a 3-point scale, with response options of "often" (3 points), "sometimes," and "hardly ever" (1 point). About equal proportions of youth report that they "often" give opinions on services to providers (32 percent), "sometimes" do so (36 percent), and "hardly ever" share opinions with providers (32 percent).

Correlations among the four self-advocacy competency scales were all statistically significant. Values on the response scales for each competency were correlated, producing correlation coefficients that range from .16 (between youth knowing how to get needed information and giving service providers opinions on services; p < .001) to .28 (between youth knowing how to get needed information and being able to get school staff to listen to them; p < .001).

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