Self-Management Strategies to Support Students With ASD

Self-management is a set of procedures that students can be taught to apply to their own behaviors to change them. In self-management, students are taught to observe, assess, and modify their own behavior. These procedures include such things as self-identifying and observing a target behavior and setting a goal to change it. Self-management procedures have been used effectively with students with ASD to improve academic, social, and other classroom behaviors. Self-directed interventions promote student independence, competence, self-reliance, and self-awareness. Despite evidence of its efficacy, the use of self-management procedures in general education settings remains limited, though this trend may be improving. In this article, the author presents how self-management strategies have the potential to support the needs of students with disabilities in general education settings who have come to rely on general education teachers, special education teachers, or paraprofessionals to participate fully in their classroom settings.