The purpose of this study was to test the effects of the self-determination instruction on self-awareness and self-advocacy in elementary students with learning disabilities at the intermediate grade level. For this purpose, twenty two 4-5th elementary students with learning disabilities were selected. The students were divided into two groups, an experimental group with self-determination instruction program and a control group with traditional one in ethics subject. The experiment was conducted throughout fifteen 40-minute sessions. To test the effects of this experiment, the pre- and post-test were given to the students and teachers in forms of Self-Awareness Checklist and Self-Advocacy Checklist. Independent sample t-test was used to analyze the difference between the experimental group and the control group regarding the self-awareness and self-advocacy. The results obtained from this study are summarized as follows: In both self-awareness and self-advocacy, significant differences were found between the experimental group and the control group according to the students, showing significantly higher effect on the self-determination instruction group. According to the teachers, however, the significant difference did not appear between the two groups. Based on these results, it is concluded that although there is a certain difference between the students\' evaluation and the teachers\' evaluation, the improvement of self-awareness and self-advocacy evaluated by students is significant as it is, for it forms the basis of self-efficacy and self-control that can be functionally applied not only in structured condition but also in natural condition.
Key words : Learning Disabilities, Self-Determination Instruction, Self-Awareness, Self-Advocacy