How to Teach Life Skills and Autism

When you are dealing with autistic people, it is important to teach them in a way that will benefit them. Most children or adults with autism have no problems with intelligence; they simply have problems relating to others and to the world around them.

Instructions

• 1

  Count the number of weeks that you have to teach the children or adults with autism. If you have 8 weeks, you can successfully teach eight life skills. Focus on only one life skill a week. Make them big life skills, such as cleaning up a room, cooking food, balancing a checkbook, doing laundry or taking care of pets.

• 2

  Tackle one life skill per week. Do not add other life skills to the mix that the students have not worked on yet. During a week of studies, you can review other skills that they have learned in the past, but do not bring more than one new skill into the classroom each week.

• 3

  Teach the life skills in a room that is quiet and without much distraction. Speak clearly to the students, and also give them a piece of paper with the instructions on it so they can follow along with you.

• 4

  Work with one child at a time, individually. Touch them on the shoulder and ask them to look at you. Make eye contact with them. Talk to them slowly and calmly about the skill that they are going to be learning.

• 5

  Make the skills simple for them, but be very concrete about the rules. Having a set of five rules or steps for each life skill is a good way to get the students to grasp the concept. Write the five rules or steps on the board or a large piece of paper and mount it at the front of the room.

• 6

  Each day, walk through the five rules or steps. Use as much hands-on demonstration as possible, and do as much individual work as possible to help the students learn the skills.