Imaginary Play Leads to Independent Living Skills

Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month

This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.

My Students

In our classroom, students learn more than how to read, write, understand math and the world around us, and socialize. We also take time during every week to teach functional living skills to help students become more independent.

My class is made up of 9 students on the autism spectrum ranging from kindergarten to second grade.

Six of the students also have cognitive disabilities. These students are amazing! They never fail to surprise me or warm my heart with their actions or how they apply what they learn. The students are in a separate class but spend time out in the school for specials, meals, and assemblies. We work on more than just the regular subjects (reading, math, writing, and science); the students also receive speech and language services, instruction on behavior strategies and social skills, and independent functioning. Some students also receive occupational therapy. My class can become tired of an activity quickly, so I am working to build up a variety of activities and materials to keep them engaged. They do best with hands-on activities and using reinforcers (such as iPads, preferred toys, or snacks) to let them know there's a reward for making good choices.

My Project

My two assistants and I teach the kids how to dress themselves and brush their teeth and hair. On Fridays, we also teach other functional living skills. So far this year we have covered folding and hanging laundry, measuring out materials to a specific level, and sorting recycling items into paper, plastic and metal. The students learn these skills at different rates, and once they have mastered it, they are ready for a new challenge! I want to incorporate a dressing center and food center to keep the students engaged. I will add the dress up monkey as a dressing center for students to get more practice in manipulating clothing, snaps and buttons. The play food, nutrition kit, and sand toys will allow students to play with a preferred sand activity to build skills, create balanced meals, and follow directions to create a sandwich, hamburger, or shopping list. These activities will be switched out with what I already have to keep the students interested and on their toes!

The dressing center and food center will not only help my students become more independent now, but they will be learning lifelong skills that will help them function in the community and hopefully, lead to them living on their own to the best of their ability.