The Autism College Connection

Soft skills can be tackled at school, at home, and with private therapy. Most traditional high schools don’t address these issues until students attend an 18-21 Transition Program. Better programs provide cooking lessons and support students with internships in their downtown. Maybe they learn how to use the equipment at a local gym. 

If parents want to see huge growth in independent living skills and social skills, they can send their student to private residential programs. Typically, public schools won’t pay for the full cost of these programs, but parents might get partial support if they hire a lawyer. Still, by all accounts, students make huge growth when given 24/7 professional training and separation from unconscious parental crutches and supports. 

Outside of school, we can do a great deal to help our kids grow at home. We can show them how to set up reminders on their cellphones to take their medicine, make them responsible for their own laundry, and ask them to chop up the carrots for the salad. We can set routines, like laundry always happens on Saturday and food shopping always happens on Sundays. 

To thrive at home, our kids need permission to fail. Let them make their own dinner and walk out of the room, so you don’t micromanage them. Let them make pancakes using salt instead of sugar. Let them spill the flour on the counter. We only learn by making mistakes. 

We can also hire outside professionals to come into our home to teach these skills. Sometimes ABA specialists and therapists teach those skills. Many of those professionals will accept your health insurance, so the costs should be minimal.