“My son is almost 10.  He has autism spectrum disorder and some other medical conditions.  He is bright, charming and surprisingly social. He has come a long way in the nearly 5 years since he was diagnosed.

So many of the daily life skills that other kids pick up by osmosis or with simple instructions, we have to specifically teach him.  Each skill has to be broken down into steps, taught one step at a time, practiced and as he becomes proficient at a step, we add the next step until, over time, he learns to successfully master a life skill. Sometimes he picks it up so fast it makes your head spin. Other times it is a long laborious process - toilet training has only recently been mastered (90% success rate) but it has taken 5 years.

My husband and I have become very creative in our teaching methods - learning happens best when it is fun!  We also have deliberately chosen to celebrate all the small victories that come along – things other parents take for granted, we celebrate because they are hard-won stepping stones towards our son’s independence.  We use lots of positive reinforcements - sticker charts, praise, high fives etc.

The example I gave was nose-blowing. It sounds odd but it is something a person needs to be able to do for himself, and to do it properly (without grossing out people around you!). It is counterintuitive to breathe forcefully out your nose, so I racked my brain for years trying to find ways to teach this.  I pretty much had to wait until he had a cold, but no progress.  I even cut up a file folder to make a headband, stapled a pipe cleaner to the front and bent it forward like a fishing pole and attached a tissue to the end of the pipe cleaner, so it dangled in front of his face.  The game was to pinch one nostril shut and using only the open nostril, blow the tissue.  Necessity is the mother of invention, but desperation is the father! Believe it not, even this didn’t work!! What finally worked was…