Support someone with autism to be more independent
People living with Autism need a structured and supportive environment where they feel safe to develop new skills.
If the individual also has a Learning Disability this will also affect their ability to learn new skills.
People with Autism may find it difficult to develop daily living skills such as personal care, shopping, budgeting, cooking, reading and writing, etc… People living with Autism often have a ‘spiky’ presentation of skills/deficits, e.g. just because the person is verbal – do not presume that they can understand everything or that they do not require support in other areas.
If the individual also has a Learning Disability this will also affect their ability to learn new skills.
People with Autism may find it difficult to develop daily living skills such as personal care, shopping, budgeting, cooking, reading and writing, etc… People living with Autism often have a ‘spiky’ presentation of skills/deficits, e.g. just because the person is verbal – do not presume that they can understand everything or that they do not require support in other areas.
New activities need to be explained in a way that a person with Autism is able to understand. You can use Augmented Communication and Social Stories to help break down an activity to its component parts; these can then be referred to as needed. It is known that people with Autism often struggle to transfer a skill learnt to a new environment, so you must repeat the skill in new situations.
It is important to find areas in which a person with Autism has strengths or particular interests and use these to engage the individual to trying new activities, to improve their quality of life and promote social inclusion. It helps them to develop a positive self-esteem and confidence to manage their life with more independence.