Author: Giselle Lobo| December 15, 2020
Helping your child become independent through self-care skills can create a tremendous sense of achievement as well as boost your child’s self-esteem. However, it is hard to do that when your child has a disability, especially a disability that makes carrying out these skills very challenging.
Our natural instinct as parents is to protect our child so when we observe our child struggling, in order to prevent and avoid stress we take over. But those tasks are determiners of independence and growth.
This is especially so in the case of children with moderate to severe intellectual disability. Many of these children have severely delayed milestones, which make learning these skills very challenging. We must remember that these skills may be the only achievements these children will make since cognitive skills, especially in the area of academics will never happen.
Becoming independent in self-care skills will make your child aware that they can do things, which in turn, fosters feelings of their independence.
Here are some tips to follow to encourage your child to become more independent in self-care skills:
- Be aware of the skills that your child can currently perform.
- Assess the skills your child is struggling with.
- Choose one skill that you want to teach your child and focus just on that.
- Take the help of a special educator or therapist to help you teach effectively step by step.
- Involve your child in the small tasks you do around the house.
- A simple schedule and reward chart will be a visual reminder of the achievements made.
DR GISELLE LOBO
Head of Inclusive Education
Sethu frequently conducts comprehensive ‘Parent Training Programmes’ to help parents become effective teachers to their children. Do contact us to sign up for the next session.