Keep life skills relevant to your autistic child

One of the most important things we do as parents is help our children learn skills they’ll need as adults. Every child learns at their own speed, but teaching practical life skills early can help them feel more confident and independent in the future.

Life skills are things we need to manage everyday life, like cooking, looking after ourselves, or handling money. Autistic children might need more practice or a different way of learning these skills, but that’s okay. What matters is making sure they learn skills that will actually help them.

We can’t predict the future, so we don’t always know exactly which skills our child will need. But one thing we hear a lot is frustration when autistic children are expected to learn skills they’re unlikely to ever use. This can cause stress and make them feel different from their peers in a way that isn’t helpful.

For example, some people think all children must learn to play with others. But what if an autistic child doesn’t actually want to play with others? Teaching them to take turns and wait is useful, but making them play just because it’s “normal” might not be.

The key is to focus on skills your child will use. Give them the right support, but don’t make them learn things just because other people think they should.