Special Learning House

Autism resources for exceptional families. Increase communication, learning and fun at home.

Functional activities for children with autism

Functional activities are essential for children with autism to increase autonomy, self-help and daily living skills. The goal of teaching functional activities is to help individuals on the autism spectrum live quality, independent, happy lives. Make sure you teach these functional activities in your home or classroom programs to help children with autism thrive.

The Functional Activities You Need to Teach

Food prep functional activities

  • Cooking – being able to cook simple meals is a crucial steps towards independence.
  • Baking – baking is a fun and tasty food prep, functional activity for ASD learners. Why not start with one of these gluten free dessert recipes for kids?

a carton of brown eggs and a mixer

  • Making smoothies – a great way to help your child get started preparing a simple recipe is with these delicious smoothie recipes for kids.
  • Step by step recipes – such as making a sandwich or preparing a simple meal.

 

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Taking care of the home activities

  • Vacuuming – vacuuming is a valuable skill for maintaining your home.
  • Sweeping – have your child sweep to learn this skill.
  • Doing laundry – take your child through doing laundry, step by step.
  • Making the bed – ave your child start each day by making their bed.
  • Wiping down a table – you could work on this after each table session with your child.
  • Organize books – use these ideas for storing kids books to get started.

young boy sitting on the grass and looking at a kids book

Self care functional activities

  • Teeth brushing – follow these steps for teaching teeth brushing.
  • Bathing – individuals with autism need to learn to take a shower and/or a bath independently.

Taking care of pets

  • Feeding a pet – if you have a service, therapy or companion dog at home, have your child help with taking care of pets at home.

young boy with red hair lying on the grass with a golden retriever puppy

Money Management

  • Managing a wallet – even if your child is young, get them started early with their own wallet so they can start learning about money.
  • Paying for simple purchases – have your child pay for a purchase each day. These could be anything from buying bread at the bakery, to choosing, and paying for, a toy in a toy shop.

Outdoor activities

  • Gardening – teach skills such as planting seeds and small plants, watering and more. Use these garden ideas for children to get started.

Transportation

  • Walking outside alone – it can be scary to work on this skill, but is necessary (when your child/teenager is ready) to build independent living skills.
  • Taking the bus – this is an important functional skill if your child is going to go from home to therapy or school on his or her own.
  • Riding a bike – learning to ride a bike can help your child be more independent.
  • Driving – if you live in a place where it is necessary to have a car and drive to get around conveniently, driving should be on your list of functional activities to teach.
  • Riding a scooter – in the interim, riding a scooter can be a good skill to teach too.

Where to teach functional activities to children with autism

At Le Chemin ABA, the children learn in a house. I created my center in a house because I wanted the children to feel they were coming to a home rather than to a medical clinic or doctor’s office-like setting. All of the kids love coming here. We are a family and the children learn through fun and educational activities!

All of the children participate in the everyday activities of the house. Some children are more or less physically limited than others and each child participates in our day-to-day activities to the best of his or her abilities.

In addition to table and floor activities to build communication, play, social, independent, fine motor and gross motor skills, the children learn to participate in functional activities to participate in the everyday life and upkeep of our house.

If you are a parent, work on these skills at home. If you are a professional teaching ASD individuals, work on these skills in your special education classroom, in your practice or wherever you are teaching.

Tips for Teaching Functional Activities to Individuals with Autism

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