Promoting Daily Living Skills Teaching your child the skills that they need to be independent at home: Part 2 Presented by: Marisa Leyden, M.A., BCBA & Jennifer Novak, M.A., BCBA

Agenda Review the skills we discussed last time and how you have been using them at home. What results have you seen? Discuss how some of these skills, along with some new ones, can be used to teach daily living skills at home. Make and take activities Practice with the kids

Promoting Daily Living Skills Tonight we will focus on independent living skills, particularly self-care skills. As we enter adulthood being able to perform self-care skills, such as preparing simple meals, becomes more important. Learning these skills are important for all children, including children on the autism spectrum.

Turn and Talk What self-care skills can my child perform independently at home? What self-care skills would I like to see my child perform independently at home?

Choosing Skills To Teach When deciding on skills to teach/assign to your child consider the following: - Will learning this skill help increase my my child’s independence in the future? -Has my child expressed an interest in a particular skill? - Does my child already have any similar skills that will help them learn this one? - Does my child have any motor or behavioral difficulties that will make learning this skill challenging?

Examples Dressing routines Showering/bathing Preparing simple meals Self feeding Toileting Brushing teeth/hair

Teaching Teach only one skill at a time Break the overall skill down into several small steps Teach your child each step of the task Use different materials to promote generalization Have a plan for “fading out”

Behavioral Techniques for Teaching Daily Living Skills Positive reinforcement “first/then” Related reinforcers Priming (timers) Task analysis (breaking a larger task into several smaller tasks) Using visual supports (picture schedules) Prompt fading Providing choices

Related Reinforcers Providing reinforcers that are related to the task will help the child to perform the task when adults are not around. Example: “Let’s get dressed. Then we can go to the park.”

Turn and Talk What are some reinforcers you can use that are related to the skills you would like to teach?

Providing Choice Providing your child with choice within the self-care routine will make it more likely that your child will actually do it. You are in charge of the choices. Only provide 2-3 choices- any more will be overwhelming.

Turn and Talk What are some choices you currently offer in the home? What are some choices you can offer?

Make and Take Visual Supports Data Collection Systems

Questions and Discussion Questions??? Let’s Practice!!!

Self-Care Activities Pouring juice/water Handwashing Brushing teeth Putting on jacket