Since my book Disability Deception came out, I have written over 160 free articles on special education! If you are interested in finding my articles, please go to: http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=JoAnn_Collins. Feel free to share the above address with other parents.

One of my most popular articles is: “What are Functional Skills and How Can They Help my Child?”  Since I wrote this article a few years ago, I decided to update the article here on my blog, and also add updated information.

Functional Skills are defined as life skills that persons use every day, in different environments. Functional skills focus on different areas such as home, family, self help skills, social skills, independent living skills. Also skills needed for employment and job retention, recreation, community living, as well as functional academics that can be used every day.

Skills are broken down by using task analysis to determine the component parts of a skill. The amount of steps in a skill needs to be determined on an individual basis. If at all possible the skill training should start at the beginning of a task and finish at the end of a task. For Example: If a child is working on cooking, the task should begin by determining what will be cooked. The next steps would include putting together a shopping list (pictures can be used), determining how much money the ingredients will cost, and going to the store to purchase the food. The last step of the task would be the actual cooking of the food, and sampling what was cooked. Breaking down the tasks in this way not only is teaching the child cooking, but also shopping for the food, money skills, etc.

While academic skills are important for all children with disabilities, many parents and advocates seem to overlook, the importance of functional skill training and instruction. These skills need to be addressed during a child’s school career, but absolutely during the child’s transition from high school to adulthood.

Adaptive skills are often discussed rather than functional skills, when a child is being considered for school reevaluation, but I consider adaptive and functional skills similar.

Why does a child need functional and adaptive skills?

1. To be prepared for post school learning. One functional skill that is often overlooked is social skills, but is important for not only post school learning but in every aspect of a child’s life. If the child attends a vocational program after high school they need to learn to interact with other students as well as teachers.

2. To be prepared for employment. A lot of functional skills are used every day, during job hours. For example: Employers expect workers to come in clean, and in uniform. The functional skill of grooming and making sure that they are groomed properly and in uniform, may need to be taught to some children with disabilities, as it may not come natural to them.

3. To be prepared for independent living. Some children with severe disabilities may never be able to live by themselves, but can be taught skills to be independent, in certain areas. These areas could be dressing and grooming, picking what they are going to wear, learning to match clothing to the weather, etc.

Accessing transportation is another functional skill that children with disabilities may need specific instruction in.  For example: How to access the bus system, how to read the bus schedule, and how to determine what bus to take to make it to work on time, and back home. Being independent in the area of transportation is an important skill for a child with disabilities to have.

Money skills are also important for children with disabilities to learn. Other skills that are critical to learn for independent living are: How to open a bank account, how to sign checks, how to set up a budget and how to pay bills. Cooking and shopping is are other functional skills that young people with disabilities need to receive instruction in.

Functional skills are important for all children and soon to be adults with disabilities to learn! They will help the child become as independent as possible as they can be in their life!

Next Blog Post: IDEA and Functional Skills