The Importance of Life Skills in Differently abled Children
Differently abled children frequently need extra support to develop life skills. As a result, many children receive instructions in what are known as ‘activities for daily living’ – while attending school. These educational opportunities are made to give children the abilities they need to function in their daily life. Depending on their age, children may learn everything from how to utilize transportation to how to make a meal and maintain a daily plan.
As you go about with your daily activities, you may not be aware of how many abilities you constantly use. This could be as a result of the ease with which you may have learned how to perform routine activities like maintaining hygiene, eating or clothing yourself. Due to their cognitive or developmental difficulties, these life skills may be more difficult for children with special needs to master.
Abilities which include carrying out daily tasks like grocery shopping and washing clothes are often referred to as ‘life skills’. Although not necessary, these abilities are crucial for anyone who wants to take part in modern society.
Children with special needs frequently need resources to build these life skills, and they might also need to invest time and money to learn and change their coping mechanisms to fit in with the outside world. They face environmental obstacles in addition to physical ones that hinder their ability to communicate.
Differently-abled children such as intellectual development delay, down syndrome and cerebral palsy, learn in ways that are different from those of neurotypical children. As a result, they often benefit from learning ‘activities for daily living’ both at home and at school. These children require and also benefit from this additional care because:
• They may find it challenging to follow verbal instructions, especially if there are several phases in the instructions
• They may be unable to concentrate on a task
• The ability to comprehend and communicate verbally may take a lot longer – or not at all
• They may not want to emulate others or try to outdo them in terms of talent
• They may be oblivious to normal behavior
If your child faces any of these difficulties, they might not automatically get everyday life skills like other children in their age group do. However, with appropriate teaching strategy they can learn most, if not all, of those skills.
Teaching children to become independent adults who have the required life skills to succeed and contribute to society is one of the most crucial tasks parents and other caretakers must complete when raising them. Parents gradually teach their children knowledge as they grow, hoping to foster ultimate independence through the development of life skills and the capacity to teach those abilities to others. This can occasionally be a difficult task for parents for a variety of reasons, such as knowing when to teach specific skills and understanding the cues they child responds to. In addition to parents and caretakers, school teachers are also heavily responsible for a child’s well-being.
Chetna Foundation helps differently-abled children and their families to overcome everyday challenges.
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