The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities have proclaimed the basic right of people to make one’s own choices, have an effective participation and inclusion. Research in the field of disability have stressed self-determination as a key construct because of its impact on their quality of life and the achievement of desired educational and adulthood related outcomes. Self-determination development must be promoted through specific strategies and especially, by providing tailored opportunities to practice those skills. Providing these opportunities across environments could be especially relevant as a facilitator of self-determination development. This manuscript aims to ascertain if opportunities at home and in the community to engage in self-determined actions are mediating the relationship between people intellectual disability level and their self-determination. Results have confirmed direct effects of intellectual disability level on self-determination scores. Indirect effects also predicted self-determination and almost all its related components (self-initiation, self-direction, self-regulation, self-realization, and empowerment) through opportunities in the community and at home. Autonomy was predicted by the intellectual disability level through an indirect effect of opportunities at home, but not in the community. These results highlight the need for further research to better operationalize and promote contextually rooted opportunities for people with intellectual disability to become more self-determined.

In recent decades, research in the field of intellectual and developmental disabilities has targeted self‐determination and quality of life constructs. Quality of life has been extensively studied within various theoretical frameworks. It has been used to guide the provision of appropriate support in daily life. In addition, a vast body of scientific literature has focused on the theoretical and practical underpinnings of self‐determination as a construct in itself. To understand how self‐determination is an essential supporting concept in the quality of life paradigm, this brief report unravels the complementary but unique role that each construct (quality of life and self‐determination) embodies. Furthermore, we discuss the role of self‐determination in the scientific literature and in the quality of life of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, reflecting on how both lines of research can converge and be aligned from a common approach. The aim is to drive attention to areas of future research development that strengthen understanding of quality of life and the self‐determination construct.