How parents can help their children at home.
Hi everyone! My name is Heather Cacioppo and I have been a special education teacher for seven years. I’ve worked with many different families over the years. I want to share with you some ways that parents can help their children learn at home.
We are currently navigating a time where parents are stepping in as teachers at home and supporting their children academically more than ever. Us teachers see you: learning common core math, continuing to support your child’s social-emotional growth, and realizing what your child can and cannot do by themselves.
Now, more than ever, teachers and parents are working collaboratively to develop an educational day to meet the needs of each individual child. This is what special education needed.
What can parents do at home?
Daily living skills
Are you picking out your child’s clothes every morning? Include your child in the process of picking out their clothes. Let them decide what they will wear and talk with them about which clothes match and which clothes don’t. You can also discuss what types of clothes we wear depending on the weather or temperature outside.
Are you dressing and undressing your child every day? Assist your child in the dressing if they are unable, but involve them in the process. Have them practice holding their shirt and putting it over their head and arms. Slowly step back and let them take more control of their dressing as time goes on. You can add pants and socks to the dressing routine as your child gets more comfortable.
This is a great opportunity to teach concepts such as “front”, “back”, or “inside out”. This activity can also be beneficial for identifying colors, sizes, right/left and so much more.
Similarly, are you making your child’s breakfast or snack every day?
Include them in the process! Start small and let your child take ownership of making their meal. Have your child find their snack in the cabinet or refrigerator and bring it to the table. They can work on requesting “help” or “open” if they have communication delays and need to request support in opening or preparing the snack. If your child is beyond that, have them retrieve their plate, silverware, napkin, or drink as well.
Think about areas in your day that you can let your child take ownership in their daily living skills. Some other skills to consider include:
Brushing their teeth
Bathing/showering
Brushing hair
Putting on their shoes
Putting on their coat (and zippering)
Choosing their break activity
Making their bed
Cleaning up their toys
Pouring a drink
Feeding themselves
Chores
Another way to help your child with autism at home is to have them take responsibility for completing daily or weekly chores.
Does your child love to put their toys all over the floor? Set a 2-minute timer on your phone and have them pick up their toys as quickly as they can before the timer goes off. When the timer goes off, give them a reward for completing their chore. This helps them understand that once they finish their chore, they get to do something they like! A reward could be a short YouTube video of their choice, a snack or candy they like, etc.
Does your child love to help in the kitchen when you make dinner? Involve them in the cooking process by getting items from cabinets and drawers and bringing them to you. Worried about them getting hurt in the kitchen? Have your child set the table for dinner. They will take some responsibility in helping prepare dinner! Verbally praise them for a job well done and keep reinforcing this positive task!
Does your child love watching you do laundry, vacuum, or dust? Ask them to help you the next time you do any of these tasks!
Some other chores to consider include:
Washing dishes
Loading the dishwasher
Doing laundry
Making their bed
Picking up their toys
Emptying the garbage
Put away clean dishes or silverware
Matching socks
Folding clothes
Hanging clothes
Why should you work on daily living skills or chores at home?
By giving your child a chore to do, they are responsible and accountable for helping out at home. They take pride in completing their tasks, especially if they can do it themselves! Your child is also learning important skills for their development into adulthood. Every day they need to brush their teeth, make a meal, or clean up.
Similarly, they are learning skills to gain confidence in their abilities to do something for themselves. Too many times, children with autism rely heavily on adult support to complete their daily routines because that’s what they are used to. Teachers do it at school, parents do it at home because it is faster.
I know what you’re thinking. It’s faster, easier, and less of a hassle if you just dress them in the morning, or make their snack. You’re right. It is faster. But all your child is learning is that you can do things better than they can. Or even worse, they’re learning that they can’t do it themselves. This is called learned helplessness.
If you want your child to gain independent skills, confidence, take pride in their work, and responsibility, start small. Pick one area of your child’s day that you want them to grow in.
If taking a bath by themselves is really important to you, start there. Teach them how to turn on the water and plug the drain. After they can do that by themselves, teach them how to adjust the water from hot or cold. Break down the steps in completing the task until they can successfully complete the activity by themselves or as much as they can by themselves. Once you have one task tackled, you can start a new activity and slowly work on building independence throughout their day.
I hope you found something you can do to help your child with autism at home. If you have any questions or want to talk further you can find me on Instagram or Facebook at Full SPED Ahead. You can also email me at heather@fullspedahead.com
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