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Inclusion360Inclusive education and social integration for youth with intellectual disabilities

For parents, educators and youth workers

My Independent Day

For every lesson in this module: what is behind it, and five things that help.

  1. Lesson 1.1

    My Daily Routine

    Why this matters

    A routine makes the day predictable, and predictability lowers anxiety. When a young person knows what comes next, they can get ready for it and need fewer reminders from adults.

    Planning a day needs putting things in order, holding them in mind and starting without being told. A visual schedule takes the plan out of the head and puts it somewhere it stays visible. Connect times with activities ("At 7 o'clock I wake up") instead of teaching the clock on its own, and start with the clock the young person already uses, which today is usually the phone.

    What helps

    • Make the schedule together. Let the young person choose the pictures and the order where you can.
    • Use it every day for at least two weeks. A routine needs repetition before it holds.
    • Praise them when they check the schedule without being reminded.
    • When something changes, a holiday or a doctor's visit, show it on the schedule in advance.
    • Reduce your help slowly: from pointing at the next picture, to asking "What comes next?", to saying nothing.
    Look at the lesson itself

  2. Lesson 1.2

    Taking Care of Myself

    Why this matters

    Personal care affects health, but it is also a matter of dignity and privacy. As young people grow up, they should do as much as possible themselves, so that adults do not have to help with intimate tasks.

    Each task is taught in small steps with a picture for every step. The kitchen is the best place for backward chaining: you prepare everything, the young person does the last step and eats the result, and then takes over one more step each time. Keep talk about food positive and never about weight or body.

    What helps

    • Put the picture step cards where the task happens: by the sink, in the bathroom, in the kitchen.
    • Use backward chaining for cooking. Finishing the task and eating the result is a strong motivation.
    • Avoid comments about weight or body. Talk about energy, health and feeling good.
    • Check the weather app together every morning for a week, then let them do it alone.
    • Respect privacy: knock before you enter the bathroom, and teach them to close the door.
    Look at the lesson itself

  3. Lesson 1.3

    Money and Shopping

    Why this matters

    Money skills are one of the strongest signs of independence in adult life and one of the hardest areas, because money mixes numbers, value and planning. A young person who cannot pay depends on someone else for every purchase and is easier to exploit.

    Teach with real money and in real shops. Counting the exact amount is often too hard at the beginning. The "one more" strategy, paying one whole unit more than the price and waiting for the change, lets a young person pay on their own. Card and phone payments need two rules of their own: the PIN is secret, and check the amount before you pay.

    What helps

    • Practise with real money. Play money is fine for games, real coins prepare for real life.
    • Practise in the same shop several times, then try a different shop.
    • Teach the "one more" strategy before exact counting.
    • Let the young person carry and keep their own wallet.
    • Talk about who can be trusted with money matters. This continues in lesson 2.3.
    Look at the lesson itself

  4. Lesson 1.4

    Safe at Home and on the Street

    Why this matters

    Safety skills are not only about avoiding danger. They are what makes going out alone possible at all. Families often keep a young person at home out of fear; teaching these skills opens the door instead. Everyone has the right to try new things in a reasonably safe way.

    Knowing a rule is not enough. Safety is learned by explaining it, showing it, practising it in a role play and then doing it in real places: dialling 112 on a phone that is switched off, crossing a real street, saying your own address aloud. Avoid "never talk to strangers", which no young adult can follow; teach instead who is a safe person to ask and the few rules that never change.

    What helps

    • Practise in real places. One road crossing practised five times in a real street is worth more than any game.
    • Use role play for calling 112, and make sure they know it is not for games.
    • Agree with the family on a safe person and a phone number that always answers.
    • Do not build fear. The message is: you can handle this, and you know what to do.
    • Increase the distance between you and the young person on trips, a little at a time.
    Look at the lesson itself
For parents, educators and youth workers