Teaching Life Skills

1. Teaching Life Skills by Evelyn W. Stone RN.,BSN.,M.Ed.

2. Personal Accountability The Focus for personal responsibility or accountability is to ensure a plan is in place for clients to complete learning tasks on time

3. Routines: A plan is needed to ensure the client: • Follows directions • Remains on task without wandering • Work independently • Cooperate by following the rules

4. Interactions: Skills to be addressed: • Listening to others in large or small groups • Knowing how to take turns • Contributing appropriately • Sharing, being polite • Respectful during all groups

5. Activities: Skills to be addressed: 1. Sharing Equipment 2. Sharing sports items 3. Understanding the importance of teaming 4. Avoiding arguing 5. Accepting and sports rules 6. Participating responsibly

6. Property: These clients need to learn how to care appropriately for both facility and personal property • Including keeping room tidy • Putting items and materials back • Putting coats, shoes, hats etc. away properly • Keeping all personal items organized and easily accessible

7. Conclusion: • Life skills includes the skills the client needs to be successful in society. Clients with life skills programs are often those with severe learning disabilities, autistic tendencies, developmental disorders etc. • For the most part, you can’t take day to day responsibility for granted with these students. They need strategies in place to help them learn the essential life skills. • They need to learn to be responsible for care of property, understanding the basic social rules, how to behave under different circumstances.

8. Conclusion: • The details I’ve listed will help you set up tracking systems or work with the client to enhance those necessary skills. • Once the client has some understanding, you’ll want self-tracking or monitoring to occur. You may want to devise a tracking sheet for specific areas to keep the client focused and on target.