Helping young adults with disabilities

[PrincessFiona]

Hoping you guys have some ideas for me:

I'm trying to address life skills with Andrew. The focus now is showering, shaving, and wearing clean clothes.

I put up signs in his room and bathroom, and even tried paying him (with minimal success). I'm not here during the day, and he works in the evenings.

Any suggestions for me?

Kris


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[ladymoreta]

I wish I had some advice... Does he still see a therapist? Could they provide any recommendations for websites or books to help you with this new stage for him? Was he having trouble keeping up with these things prior to leaving for college?

[Meenah]

Does he have a counselor of his own? Do you know anyone who works in group homes that could give you some ideas?

[MrsC]

I asked my sister who is a social worker and works for an organization that helps intellectually disabled and autistic adults in a residential setting. Here are her observations:
- When it comes to things like personal hygiene, most of the houses here have signs with an illustration or a word to prompt or remind the service users about personal hygiene.
- It helps to sit down with them and explain why showering is important in basic terms. The more you can get them involved in their personal and self care plans the better.
- Organize to shower every second day and have an overall wash other days if time is an issue.
- They will make up a schedule, colour coded. With this, you have something to point to and say "Monday morning you have to shower, Tuesday you have to do laundry" etc.
Routine is very important.
These are the things I see that are most effective. We have some service users who stay here during the week and go home on the weekend. Here they are completely independent, do everything themselves, while at home they don't have to. Consistency is key too.
People learn from each other so being around others who have autism in a group setting is very helpful.
We have groups and training for those who are not residents too.

Sorry, it was written in a text but I hope it helps somewhat. The organization she works for is amazing, she loves it there.

[Ladybug]

Phone alarms/reminders? We recommend this with our daily meds kids that routinely forget. You could call/text him multiple times, parenting from afar. What about evening showers when you are there to remind? Evening showers are my favorite BTW. It's a nice way to unwind after a full day. Prework shower?