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How to Encourage a Disabled Child to Help With Household Chores

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While children may not relish the idea of doing household chores, they can be more important than you may realise. When a child is given certain responsibilities, such as tidying their bedroom or setting the table for mealtimes they will learn a variety of lessons, from the importance of keeping things tidy and organised, to the satisfaction of carrying out and completing a task. Many parents also choose to reward children for completing household chores by giving them a weekly allowance; this can be a great way for children to learn from a young age about the value of money and how hard work reaps rewards.

When it comes to a child with a disability however, many parents may worry that chores can be too complex for the child to carry out. This may well be the case as a physical or mental disability can obviously impact on a child’s ability to complete certain tasks. However, disabled children can face a lifetime of exclusion from ‘normal’ activities due to the nature of their disability. It is vital to highlight to them from a young age, not their limitations, but the things they can do.

While it may seem more time consuming than actually just doing the chores themselves, parents can simplify certain tasks in order to make them easier for a disabled child. In much the same way that an able-bodied child will gain satisfaction and a sense of achievement from successfully cleaning up after a meal and being praised for doing a great job, so will a disabled child from putting their toys away or helping you to prepare dinner.

Self-Care

Basic life skills are a necessity for all children, able-bodied or otherwise. Actions like brushing teeth, running a bath at the right temperature and washing themselves properly can seem like mammoth tasks for disabled children. When teaching your child these basic skills, approach the subjects positively, offering praise and encouragement. Independence is one the greatest rewards for a disabled child.

Make a List of Tasks

Sticker charts and visual aids for the list of chores to be done are a great way to help your child master household tasks as well as introducing them to new ones. For every new task, create a new sticker, and make a separate chart to place the stickers once the chores have been completed. This will allow them to keep track of the tasks they’ve completed, as well as the tasks they’ve still got to do. Soon enough, they will be able to undertake the chores with ease, while also realising the benefits of learning new skills.

Reward Success

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Don’t let success go unnoticed, and make sure you reward your child for the effort they put into daily work. These rewards can be daily or weekly, like a trip to the park or going to watch the latest film at the cinema. Don’t hand them out too easily however, or you may find that tasks are being completed just for the reward, instead of your child learning anything at all.

Add One Task at a Time

Don’t overload your child with tasks to do, as they will lose interest altogether. Instead, only introduce a task once they’ve mastered the previous one you set. Clearing plates and loading the dishwasher may look like a simple job, but for a child with Asperger’s it can prove to be a very frustrating process.
Slowly Remove the Structures

Practice makes perfect for your child, and there will be a number of verbal and visual structures you have in place to help them achieve their task. Eventually however, your child will have to learn to do things on their own, and this will mean removing these structures in order to further your child’s life education. Slowly reduce the help you provide, so your child will have to think for themselves instead of having to rely on you for assistance.

This guest post was written by Francesca, a health blogger from the UK who writes for Quest 88. If you need to buy crutches, she recommends visiting their website.

By on September 20th, 2012

About Powered by Mom

I’m Michelle aka Powered by Mom. I’m married with one daughter, my hubby was my high school sweetheart, our two dogs Nyx and Cleo and our cat Oliver. As you can see we’re a family of animal lovers. We love to travel when we can, try different food and activities all over the world and enjoy being together. My passions are writing, travelling, creating new recipes, encouraging people to adopt not shop and just to enjoy life while we can.

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2 thoughts on “How to Encourage a Disabled Child to Help With Household Chores”

  1. This was a good article. I have a 12 yr son who has moderate autism and we work on living skills at home as much as I can. I tell him he needs to learn how to brush his teeth properly and put his clothes away and other things like that so he can be more independent. I don't know if he'll ever go away to college or live on his own, but he needs to learn these basic skills of life no matter where he is. They do a lot of this at his school too.

    Reply
  2. I am just now beginning to beable to delegate tasks to my 11 year old twins with developmental disabilities, so this post is helpful!

    Reply

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