As a pediatric occupational therapist, self-help skills make up a large part of my practice. During this period of distance learning, I’ve been creating a series of parent resources on these skills and how they can be addressed at home. I wanted to share this information with a wider audience, so I’ll be posting them here as well. I hope this information is helpful!
- Partner with your child’s dentist.
- Consider seeing a dentist who specializes in children with special needs. They may have special accommodations or visuals they can put in place for visits.
- Regular oral health check-ups are key to be proactive about any dental issues that may arise.
- Plan extra time to allow your child to attempt the task independently.
- It’s easy to be in a rush and start doing parts of the process, such as squirting the toothpaste onto the brush.
- Give a verbal prompt to do the task and then sit back and observe what your child can do.
- Break it down into steps.
- Try backward chaining. This simply means doing all of the first steps of the task and allowing the child to complete the very last step. Once they’ve mastered the last step, you can have them do the second to last step and so on. This helps them get the reward of completing the task.
- Use visuals.
- You can use drawings or real-life pictures of your child completing the task.
- Try taping them on the wall or mirror right by the sink.
- Toothbrushing Checklist
- https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Personal-Hygiene-Chart-532273
- Use video modeling.
- This is a powerful, evidence-based technique, especially for children with autism.
- You can make your own video, or easily find them on YouTube by searching “video modeling + [self-help skill]”
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvaZ4cQ33tI
- Teach your child the proper toothbrushing motions.
- Talk to them about the four quadrants of the mouth (bottom left teeth, bottom right teeth, top left teeth, top right teeth) and how we should spend equal time brushing each section, as well as the tongue.
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbBNmc1lVvw
- Use a reward system or positive reinforcement.
- Consider using a token economy such as a sticker chart. Give your child a sticker every time they successfully complete the task – then allow them to trade in a certain amount of stickers for a prize.
- Consider praising each step. Some children benefit from really high levels of positive reinforcement.
- Toothbrushing Incentive Chart
- Use timers.
- This could be a visual or auditory timer placed by the sink, or a tactile timer built into an electric toothbrush.
- Children’s Electric Toothbrush
- https://www.getquip.com/
- Consider how you dispense the toothpaste.
- If your child tends to squeeze too much toothpaste, it may be beneficial to use a travel-size container to help prevent this. It’s also helpful to refer back to a visual model of what the appropriate amount of toothpaste should look like on the brush.
- Another option is using an automatic toothpaste dispenser that delivers a consistent amount of toothpaste to a targeted area.
- Give your child some control over the task.
- This can help give them more buy-in as well as curtail any negative behaviors.
- Let them pick out a special toothpaste beforehand, or give them a choice between two colors of toothbrush.
- Have your child teach you.
- This is a great way to see what they know and it can be super motivating for certain children!
- Model the same behavior.
- Let your children watch you brushing your teeth. As much as you can, talk aloud and narrate each step as you do it (barring when your mouth is full).
- Practice!
- It almost goes without saying, but the key to becoming proficient in these skills is practicing them and making them part of daily routines.