As a clinician who never passes up a teaching opportunity, Jamie McGillivary loves vending machines because they offer the chance to teach essential life skills — especially to a child with autism.
“I was showing a child how to use a vending machine and the person behind us was shocked. She said she’d never seen anyone teach a child how to use a vending machine,” she recalls. “It’s not top of mind for most parents of typical children because they assume kids assimilate those skills.”
Using a vending machine brings together many skills that kids with autism will eventually use as adults. But how do teens and young adults learn life skills when they need them most?
As President and Founder of Healing Haven, an ABA therapy provider with locations in Madison Heights and Farmington Hills, McGillivary knows the value for individuals with autism to learn life and vocational skills — and how much these individuals can give back to the world, given appropriate support at the right time in their lives.
Kids with autism can learn essential life skills, but some need more direct instruction to complete laundry, shopping, cooking and other activities necessary to live partially or fully independent adult lives.
Here, we share what you need to know to help your child with autism learn life skills — and we share some helpful parent tips along the way.
Where can teens with autism learn life skills in a supportive environment?
This “next stage” of life preparation for kids with autism is important — so important that Healing Haven added a Life Skills Clinic to its comprehensive services in Madison Heights.
Here, teens and young adults ages 13 and up can learn life skills as they move toward adulthood.
“We offer one-on-one treatment to target the common areas of struggle for individuals with autism,” McGillivary says.
Through Healing Haven’s comprehensive approach, utilizing ABA, Occupational and Speech therapies, they focus on both life and vocational skills. Their therapists provide support in mock living and working environments to help youth apply communication and executive function skills to real world settings.
“This brings hope to families. As kids enter their next stage of life, they can further their skills established in something they enjoy, to give back to the world,” she says.
- Parent tip: Find opportunities for your child to learn and practice essential life skills needed to complete daily projects. Start now, even if your child is young. Prioritize the skills that will help your child communicate and have social interactions.
When is too early to start building skills — including social skills — for independence?
Skill development with autistic teenagers is more successful with individualized support — and plenty of buy-in from the young adult.
“We help parents figure out based on age and skill set what their child’s trajectory is,” McGillivary explains.
Whether or not their goal is to live independently, all individuals should learn to care for themselves with an emphasis on dignity and safety. This includes addressing their hygiene and caring for their living space. They should also learn to engage in social opportunities and communicate their needs.
- Parent tip: From an early age, help your child learn to manage time, follow a routine and use a list, how to prioritize and how to get from point A to point B. If your child is already 17 or 18 and you’ve missed some foundational goals, fill in the gaps with the help of a BCBA.
What are some essential life skills?
The top life skills all kids with autism should learn include safety and social interaction skills.
Teaching individuals how to initiate and complete a task from start to finish is helpful. Learning a skill set that allows them to advocate for themselves and ask questions if they need support or help is useful for all individuals on the spectrum, regardless of their trajectory.
Next, it’s important to work on tasks that are socially significant to your own family. “Helping families recognize what skills are important for them is a hallmark of ABA therapy. We know it’s important to have conversations with families early on and lay the foundation, so families understand their child won’t be 3 years old forever,” McGillivary says.
Culturally, some families prioritize caring for their children well into adulthood regardless of whether they have autism, so it’s important to balance providing for your child and helping them gain skills they’ll need to have some level of independence as they get older — and provide plenty of opportunities for practice while they are still young.
- Parent tip: Get your child’s buy-in for other skills they’d like to learn. Give them choice, even with chores around the house. If they have an aversion to loud noises, steer clear of vacuuming for now and learn to set the table instead.
What is the power of specialized support to build life skills?
“Not everyone will attain complete independence, but there are opportunities for every child to master skills appropriate for them,” McGillivary says. “Your child may be nonverbal, so won’t be able to set up their own doctor appointments, but they may be able to make their own grilled cheese sandwiches.”
- Parent tip: Understand that practice makes progress. You’re building baby steps, so remember to look back and recognize all the gains your child has made.
At Healing Haven’s Life Skills Clinic, teens and young adults spend time exploring leisure activities, work one-on-one with an adult to build language and social skills, interact with peers and complete jobs assigned to them.
And, she says, parents are grateful. “To have someone see the value in what their kids can offer to the community and a place they can go to learn skill sets gives them hope for the future,” McGillivary says.
Learn more about the unique autism services at Healing Haven. The Madison Heights campus serves ages 2-young adult. The Farmington Hills clinic supports kids up to age 8. Visit thehealinghaven.net.
