Self-determination in Male Children with Intellectual Disabilities: Perceptions of Parents from Saudi Arabia.

Alrabiah (2021) asked Saudi parents of high-school boys about self-determination. One group had sons with intellectual disability. The other group had sons without disability.

Parents filled out a survey. They rated how often their teen showed skills like goal setting and problem solving. They also said how often they let their teen practice those skills at home.

Both groups of parents said self-determination is important. Yet parents of sons with ID gave lower skill scores. They also gave fewer chances to practice.

The gap was big. Kids with ID got fewer opportunities even though their parents valued the skill just as much.

Green et al. (2020) ran a similar survey in the United States. They found the same pattern. Youth with autism plus ID had lower capacity scores even when families gave lots of chances. The two studies back each other up.

Cribb et al. (2019) tells a brighter story. Young autistic adults said they felt more in control after high school. This seems to clash with the Saudi data, but the difference is age. Serena's group had left school and built new supports. The Saudi boys were still teens with tight family routines.

Rodríguez-Martínez et al. (2020) extends the timeline. They showed that adults with higher self-determination set more future goals. The Saudi finding points to the root problem: teens with ID miss practice time, so they start adulthood behind.

You can close the practice gap. Add a daily choice routine to the transition plan. Let the student pick lunch, bus seat, or free-time activity. Track trials just like any other skill. Share the data with parents to show safe ways to give more control. Small, planned steps now build the autonomy that later studies say predicts adult goals and life satisfaction.