The Other Sister: self determination, learned helplessness, and person centered planning.

Carla is an amazing example of a young woman with determination and will power to be herself and not settle for a thing beyond that. I think we all can learn something from her, this movie, and apply it to our lives. Examples of how the movie portrayed self-determination, learned helplessness, and person centered planning are as followed.

Self- determination: Carla has self-determination throughout the entire movie, setting goals for herself and not stopping when someone claimed that those goals were unobtainable. We see this, for example, when she speaks up and says she wants to go to school to become and vet. Tech. Her mother is very quick to try and lead her away from that idea but Carla remains persistent and does start taking classes towards gaining a higher education. We also see this when she wants to live on her own in her own apartment. Her mother does the same thing but eventually allows for Carla to prove herself and see’s that she is capable of doing so.

Learned helplessness: Personally I believe that Carla’s mother gives us an example of learned helplessness in the movie when she continuously tries to justify herself regarding why Carla was put in the school for her childhood. She feels that she needs to justify herself and her actions. Another example of this is how Carla feels throughout the movie when trying to gain her mothers approval. Due to her mother’s actions and comments, she feels that she will never be good enough or nothing will be good enough for her: going to school, living on her own, and her boyfriend Daniel.

Person centered planning: Carla shows person centered planning throughout the whole movie. She is always thinking of the next step in her life, never allowing for her disabilities to limit her dreams and goals of continuing her education to get a job and then to later get married. It is important that we point out that Carla was proactive with her goals and future, never allowing for anything to hold her back or to see herself and her possible future in any different way.