The child with a disability is not exempt from schedules and routines of our fast-paced society. Speech therapy, occupational and physical therapy, and social language groups all come with schedules. Here is a plan to develop a routine for the many tasks that are important for future independent living.
Choose the Self-Care or Daily Living Skill
Choose a time of day to start. Many families need a morning routine for the child with a disability to make sure that everyone gets out the door on time.
This is important that very small skills are chosen. For example, a parent might want the child to put on his pajamas independently. This is a specific skill as opposed to get ready for bed which would involve a number of skills like brushing teeth and picking up toys.
Other daily living skills or self-care skills will be added as the child with a disability masters earlier skills. Focusing on small steps is what is important here. (Parents might consider how they learned computer skills. The skills are many sequential parts of a whole.)
Break the Daily Living Skill into Parts
Using putting on pajamas as an example, what are the parts of that task?
- Willingness to put the pajamas on at the routine bedtime
- Getting pajamas from the designated place
- Putting pajamas on or asking for help
- Putting clothes and shoes in the appropriate place
Note: If bedtime is at a different time each evening, establishing a routine will be more difficult. If the evening routine is dinner, quiet play or activity, and bedtime at 8:00 p.m.; the child with a disability knows what is coming next. Predictability is important to routine success.
Make a Schedule Chart
Daily living skills and self-care are easily communicated with a chart. Read more about making schedule charts for children with disabilities.
Carefully Consider the Routine
Before presenting the routine to the child with a disability, parents will want to review the schedule. Is it practical given the commitments of all family members and the individual needs of the child? Small parts of a well-thought plan will offer more success than something that looks good on paper but does not really reflect how the family functions.
Read more ideas for creating schedules for the child with a disability in the next article.
