These learnings have been defined by the American Association on Mental Retardation (AAMD), they must be carried out spontaneously and progressively, and be achieved at home learning disabilities tutoring near me.
Skills that the child must acquire
Self-care area: Includes all adaptation skills related to personal autonomy in cleanliness, food, hygiene and physical appearance. From a very young age we must make it easier for children to dress, choose clothes , eat alone and have an interest in being well-groomed, combed and neat. Although at first they don’t know how to do it very well (we will give them a very large bib so they can eat comfortably and we will be calm about the stains, we will leave them the scrunchies so they can choose the one they like the most and that matches their clothes…), Little by little, they will advance in skill and ability.
Self-direction area: Skills related to self-regulation of one’s own behavior , understanding personal choices, following schedules, completing tasks, autonomously solving tasks, seeking help when needed, etc. That is to say, we adults must organize ourselves well and then, by example, make children understand how important such planning is. We all respect meal, sleep and play schedules. If it is time to pick up the toys , they are all placed, even if at first they need our accompaniment. If they do not want to, they choose although they have been told beforehand that they will not be able to move on to another activity until they do so. This is said once, in a calm and blunt tone.
Communication area: Understands the abilities to understand and transmit information through basic communication behaviors and skills. We must continually put our children in a position to communicate what they want, not getting ahead of ourselves to express or give them what they need. Speech is learned by imitation , therefore, we must speak a lot and verbalize all our actions since they facilitate understanding by the child. When they already know how to speak a little, it is very interesting for them to begin theater activities, which will help them with vocalization, memory, expression and communication skills in general.
Area of functional academic skills: Referring to instrumental school learning and applied to life (reading, writing, calculation, natural and social knowledge) so necessary for later autonomous functioning (being able to shop, read subway stations, know about personal relationships, the functioning of our society…)
Area of social skills: Includes interpersonal social exchanges (initiating, maintaining and ending interactions), identifying the social context in which one participates, recognizing feelings, controlling impulses , helping and cooperating with others… Children must learn to lose fear and knowing how to start conversations to participate in games with children they don’t know in the playground or at school. They must know that if they treat everyone with respect , they will be respected and that this is how things are achieved. They must also learn to behave within society (wait for turns to speak, when the elders speak, the children remain silent and do not bother…), learn empathy by understanding others in their problems and requests, and learn not to impose my wishes above all, etc.
Leisure and free time area: Develop varied leisure interests and satisfaction at home, in the community and appropriate participation in games and social leisure situations… We must not only present the most varied leisure offers that we can to our children (in all fields: sport , art, culture, fun with friends) but we must ensure that they are rewarding and interesting for them, controlling each of the steps they take. When they reach adolescence, real problems can arise if this stage is not carried out properly.
Area of health and personal safety: These are those skills related to maintaining health (habits, medical check-ups, accident prevention , first aid…) and relationships with self-defense against aggressive behaviors towards oneself ( know how to face situations of both physical and mental aggression, for example, at school. They must know how to say NO when we do not want something that harms us (avoiding drugs in the future), with security and conviction in what we do.
Area of work: Skills related to the performance of a job and everything that entails: compliance with a schedule, completion of a task, acceptance of criticism, management of money, resources… This is already learned at school , making them responsible for always arriving on time, not going to bed if all the school work has not been completed, the joy of what is well done, knowing how to learn from mistakes, exercising constructive criticism, etc.
Area of community use: Referring to the good use of community resources, transportation, shopping centers, recreational areas, medical services… All of this leads us to teach how to use the different resources, knowing where to go when needs something, how we relate to the different people who serve us (greeting when we arrive, asking for things please, knowing how to thank, saying goodbye correctly, treating us with respect, not shouting, knowing how to behave, in general) and knowing how to exercise our rights and obligations as part of the community.
Area of life at home: Skills that allow us autonomy at home: meal preparation, shopping planning, clothing care, etc. From a very young age we can teach them to make meals (we will learn the dangers of the kitchen : fire, knives, etc., and the fun of it), to make the bed, to fold, put the clothes in the washing machine, to leave the laundry collected. room, where to write down the things we are missing, etc.