How to Help Someone Develop Independent Living Skills

Whether someone is born with a disability or is disabled following an accident or illness, that person will need some help learning new skills. While some people prefer not to have everything done for them, they're often grateful for the guidance and assistance they receive from genuinely helpful friends and family.

Instructions

• 1

  Learn all you can about the disease or condition and the abilities the person does have. Knowing their capabilities and boundaries will help you know how much assistance the person will require and what they can, and should, be doing on their own.

• 2

  Start small and build on success. For example, let a blind person walk to the corner on his own. Then teach him how to listen for traffic. After a few independent forays, he might try crossing the street.

• 3

  Provide access to all the adaptive technology and accessible equipment that you can so that the person with the disability has the tools needed for independent living. Find out about assistive computer technology and how to make a home accessible. Add Braille dots to food in the pantry and on the stove and other appliances. Equip a telephone with a light for the deaf.

• 4

  Get the person involved in support groups for others who share the same disability so she can learn from others how to live independently.

• 5

  Hire special teachers, such as Braille and mobility experts or sign language teachers. Take classes so that you both can gain the knowledge.