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Intervening from the “Inside Out”: Exploring the Role of Self-Determination and Mindfulness-Based Interventions for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

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Abstract

Objectives

This paper describes and integrates self-determination and mindfulness research in intellectual and developmental disability, with a focus on how both approaches shift the focus to intervening from the “inside out” rather than from the “outside in.”

Methods

A targeted overview of self-determination and mindfulness research in intellectual and developmental disabilities is provided. Parallels and areas of divergence are described, with implications derived for the integration of the two approaches to promote positive outcomes for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Results

There is a synergistic relationship between self-determination and mindfulness-based interventions. Promoting internal resources, self-awareness, and emotion regulation through mindfulness may provide the foundation on which to build specific self-determination skills.

Conclusions

There is a need for ongoing work to develop and test, in partnership with disabled people, the impacts and outcomes of integrated approaches to promoting mindfulness and self-determination. This will require changes across multiple levels, and issues related to diversity and equity must be at the forefront.

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Notes

  1. EDITOR’s NOTE: Language plays an important role in shaping how disability is viewed by others and how disabled people view themselves. This journal adheres to the APA 7.0 recommendations with regard to disability-related language; that being, either disability identity language or person-first language is acceptable.

    AUTHORS’ NOTE: In this article, we will use a mixture of terminology when referring to disabled people, autistic people, and people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. A common approach has been to use “person-first”, in which the person (e.g., student) appears before the condition (e.g., intellectual disability), such as student with intellectual disability. This language is still preferred by many in the intellectual and developmental disability community. However, many disabled and autistic advocates and advocacy groups now prefer identity-first language, such as autistic person or disabled person (Andrews & Forber-Pratt, 2022; Andrews et al., 2019; Bottema-Beutel et al., 2021). At the time of this writing, terminological issues have not been settled. To honor all perspectives, we use both person-first and identity-first terminology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kansas University Center On Developmental Disabilities, University of Kansas, 1200 Sunnyside Avenue, Lawrence, KS, 66045, USA

    Karrie A. Shogren

  2. Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, GA, 30912, USA

    Nirbhay N. Singh

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  1. Karrie A. Shogren
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KAS conceived the concept for this article. KAS and NNS co-wrote and edited this paper.

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Correspondence to Karrie A. Shogren.

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KAS is the senior developer of the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction and NNS is the developer of three mindfulness-based interventions.

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Shogren, K.A., Singh, N.N. Intervening from the “Inside Out”: Exploring the Role of Self-Determination and Mindfulness-Based Interventions for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Adv Neurodev Disord 6, 147–156 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41252-022-00252-y

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