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Self-determination: programs of research funded by NIDRR
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Jan. 21, 2003 -- Last week we told you about tomorrow's free webcast on self-determination hosted by Independent Living Research Utilization (information online at http://www.ilru.org/ku-ilru/online/index.html ) -- it's a good way to learn more about the concept of self-determination for people with disabilities and where it's headed.
The National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research funds a dozen or so research projects in the area of self-determination for people with disabilities.
The Rural Institute at the University of Montana -- http://ruralinstitute.umt.edu/training/ -- has a project that works to help individuals with traumatic brain injuries become self employed. The National Resource Center on Supported Living and Choice at Syracuse University's Center on Human Policy ( http://soeweb.syr.edu/thechp/nrc.html ) is looking at home ownership approaches and self-directed personal assistance for people with developmental disabilities. At the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Aging with Developmental Disabilities at the University of Illinois at Chicago, researchers, as one of their many projects, are aiming determine if keeping persons with mental retardation in the work force as they get older will help them maintain self determination (http://www.uic.edu/orgs/rrtcamr/research5_1.htm) .
At the Research and Training Center on Community Living connected with the University of Minnesota's Institute on Community Integration, a long-term study aims to out happens when adults with mental retardation move from a large private institution to small community settings -- settings based upon their preferences and decisions. Over 100 adults with MR are part of this study, which is trying to find out, among other things, the extent to which individuals with MR are able to build lifestyles based on their personal values. (Learn more at http://ici.umn.edu/projectscenters/adult.html )
Other research programs on self-determination funded by NIDRR include ones for persons living with AIDS, people with psychiatric disabilities and minorities with disabilities. To learn more about these programs, visit the go to website of the National Center for the Dissemination of Disability Research and search for "self-determination" programs (http://www.ncddr.org/forms/nidrrprofiles.html )