Autism Therapy: daily living skills

definition of daily living skills: not yet defined.

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Effectiveness of Parent and Therapist Collaboration Program (PTCP) for Teaching Self-care and Domestic Skills to Individuals with Autism
Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities, by Cavkaytar, A., and Pollard E., published in 2009, summarized Jan 25, 2010

Training parents and therapists to work together may help teach practical daily skills to children with autism.

The Parent and Therapist Collaboration Program (PTCP) is designed to teach skills like tooth brushing and floor sweeping to children with autism. This study asked whether PTCP was effective for 3 children with autism. Parents and therapists attended 3 group meetings, and then had one home visit and one clinic visit. Each of these meetings lasted 90 minutes each. The therapist visited the home to see if the child learned the skills. All three children learned several skills within 3 to 15 follow-up visits. The authors think that PTCP is an effective way to teach children with autism self-care and daily living skills.


Sensori-Motor and Daily Living Skills in Preschool Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders
J Autism Dev Disord, by Jasmin, E., Couture M., McKinley P., Reid G., Fombonne E., and Gisel E., published in 2009, summarized Apr 23, 2009

Therapy that teaches motor skills may help children with autism to perform daily tasks.

The purpose of this study was to see if sensori-motor skills affect whether or not preschool-aged children with autism can perform daily living skills. The authors assumed that children with autism would have weaker sensori-motor skills than other children. While this was true, they found that the sensori-motor skills varied quite a bit amongst their group of 35 children with autism. The children with autism had large delays in gross motor and fine motor skills compared to other children. The poor daily living skills in children with autism are caused, in part, by these delays in sensorimotor skills.


Combining Video Modeling and Least-to-Most Prompting for Establishing Response Chains
Behavioral Interventions, by Murzynski, NT, and Bourret JC, published in 2007, summarized Aug 8, 2007

Children with autism may learn better by watching a movie/video of a person doing something than watching a real person doing something.

This study was designed to see if movies/videos could help children with autism learn daily-living skills. Each movie/video showed a skill and broke the skill down into unique steps. The study tested how many times the child watched the movie/video and was prompted before he learned to do each step of the skill. Both boys in the study learned faster when the movies/videos were used with the prompting. The study did not test what would happen if the children were taught with just the movie/video (no prompting).


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Breakthrough Offers Community Living for Adults with Autism

Apr 20, 2012

Breakthrough, in Knoxville, is a community for adults with autism. Breakthrough consists of six homes and caregivers around the clock. There, residents can learn daily living skills and gain independence from their families. The founders understand there is a growing need for independent living communities as the autism population gets older. The eventual goal for Breakthrough is a large community with a community center, recreational activities, and day services. They are modeling themselves on a retirement community, Tellico Village.

Read original article: Knoxville Community for Adults with Autism Hopes to Expand


Canadian Kids with Autism Get a Boost in ABA Services

Aug 31, 2011

ErinoakKids Centre for Treatment and Development and Kerry's Place Autism Services recently joined forces to deliver applied behavior analysis (ABA) services in Ontario's Central West Region. This cooperation and the funds received by the Ministry of Children and Youth Services will allow the organizations to serve 1,300 additional children with autism the first year and 1,750 in following years. The family focus of the initiative will target communication, social/interpersonal skills, behavior management, and daily living skills.

Read original article: Autism Services Get Boost


People with Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities Have a New Facility for Day Services in Massachusetts

Jan 28, 2010

People with autism and other developmental disabilities sometimes do not have the opportunity to learn daily living skills at home. Rehabilitative Resources Inc. (RRI) in Massachusetts has opened another "Day Hab" center in order to serve more clients. Bonita Keefe-Layden, the chief executive officer of RRI, says that people with disabilities may lack simple life skills because their parents may overcompensate for them at home and think that they are unable to do tasks such as washing dishing and grocery shopping. In addition to teaching daily skills, Day Hab has done some job training and placement. Keefe-Layden says, "We have to meet Mass Health regulations (through which the program is supported), but beyond that [the program] is as unique as people want it to be." While certain therapies are required - speech, physical, and occupational - Keefe-Layden is hoping to bring animal therapy to the center. There is a small store at the center that sells items the clients have made such as soaps and holiday gifts. When the weather becomes warmer, participants will have the opportunity to do some outdoor activities and sports.

Read original article: People with Developmental Disabilties Find Care Closer to Home


Autism Team in Iowa Helps Children Achieve Independence

Aug 13, 2008

The Grant Wood Area Education Agency (GWAEA) in Iowa provides training to adults and children with autism in the treatment and education of autistic and related communication-handicapped children (TEACCH) method. The Autism Team, as they call themselves, travels to school districts to promote visual learning and daily living skills to children with autism. "There's a lot of great research to support these kids do better with visual support than they do with auditory information," says Kelly Trier of the GWAEA Autism Team."

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