How to Teach Life Skills to the Mentally Disabled

The teacher should individually assess students.

Teaching life skills to the mentally disabled requires a special type of knowledge and particular skills. A teacher who is used to teaching to people who are not mentally disabled would need to review her existing skills and methods. However, teaching life skills to a mentally disabled person can considerably enhance his whole life experience. He may be able to live independently or semi-independently, may be able to work and, perhaps most importantly, may be able to form and maintain friendships.

Things You'll Need

• Individual learning plans

Instructions

1. Assess the students individually. Meet with parents, caretakers and professionals who have previously worked with the students. Decide on a program of life skills to be taught and determine the steps needed to accomplish these. For instance, you may have a goal of teaching a learning-disabled student to cook dinner. The first step could be to get him to wash and prepare vegetables.

2. Use repetition of both actions and words. Many people with a learning disability respond well to repetition. Aim to progress by small steps. People with a mental disability may not pick things up by observation, so verbally reinforce everything you and they do. Start teaching each life skill from the level the student is at now, not from the stage of no skill.

3. Put the students into small group as much as possible. This helps to form social relationships. According to Ericdigests.org, the reason many people with mental handicaps lose a job is because of poor social skills. Assess the most important of the social skills and reinforce these. You could include safety awareness, hygiene, health and money management.

4. Include as many practical training sessions as possible. Make these fun and relevant. Take the students out to do Christmas shopping or for a haircut. Encourage them to celebrate special occasions by buying presents and making cakes and cards. Some of these activities will also encourage the local community to accept people who they will see as "different."

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure the environment is safe for you and your students.

References

• Eric Digests: Life Skills Mastery for Students with Special Needs
• Working with Persons who are Mentally Retarded