The Arc's Self-Determination Scale: Procedural Guidelines

adults with cognitive disabilities today, there are concrete
examples of people who have achieved self-determination.
Fredericks (1988) related the efforts of his son, Tim, to attain
the rank of Eagle scout in Troop 161, in Philomath, Oregon. Tim,
who has Down syndrome, was included in the activities of the
regular scout troop instead of participating in a “special scouting”
program. In order to achieve the rank of Eagle, scouts must
conduct a project that provides service to the community. Tim’s
desire was to communicate to other students what the experience
of having a significant cognitive disability meant to him. He
sought and gained approval to conduct an Eagle project giving
speeches at school campuses in the local district. Because Tim has
difficulty with writing and reading, he and his family have
developed a method of accommodating for these difficulties while
ensuring that Tim’s message is his own. Tim dictates what he
wants to say to a family member who prints his words. After this,
Tim copies the dictated words in his own script. Tim’s father says
“Tim’s dictation over the years has become quite fluent, and he
does not tolerate any editing of his ideas. He occasionally tolerates
a suggested word or phrase change” (p. 8).
After this process had resulted in a formal presentation, Tim
implemented his project. His original intent was to speak to a few
schools, but in the end he presented his speech at twenty-seven
schools to an total audience of more than 2,500 people. It is worth
repeating Tim’s speech without paraphrasing:
“My name is Tim Fredericks. I am handicapped because I
have Down syndrome. I was born with Down syndrome.
Down syndrome people have an extra chromosome.
Nobody knows why we have this extra chromosome. All
of you have forty-six chromosomes. I have forty-seven.
Would any of you like my extra chromosome? I would be
glad to give it to you if I could.
I would like to tell you what it is like to be retarded.
I am doing this so that you might be able to understand
people like me. School is a good place to learn, but I don’t
really like to go to school. I am a slow learner. I have a
hard time spelling. Some of your teachers tell me that you
have a hard time spelling, and you don’t have my problem.
I have trouble reading. Everyone tells me that I read about
the fifth grade level. I hate to write letters and to write in
my diary because it is hard for me to write. After I
graduate from school, I hope to live in an apartment with a
good friend. I also hope to have two or three part-time
jobs. I have two now that I get paid for. I work at Ark
Animal Hospital every morning for two hours. I have to be
50