Is hygiene a life skill? I want to say and emphatic "YES!" It is basic but oh so important. Without good hygiene a lot of opportunities will evaporate. Hygiene doesn't need to be complicate but it must be present. It is important to avoid body odor, be clean and neat. So what does a parent need to teach.
- Wash hands after going to the bathroom. This is a battle that needs to be fought. If you think or did an inadequate job, check her hands and send her back in to do it again. For some reason, I have found that children with learning differences try to avoid hand washing after a trip to the bathroom. For some children, this takes years. It did at my house. This must become automatic. Good hygiene is a first step to making friends, getting and keeping a job and even legally working around food.
- Take a shower or bath before leaving the house. I heard arguments on this for years. Clean hair and a lack of body odor does a lot to make a good impression with others. This is another battle to fight. The first step is teaching a child all the steps to taking a shower. My son had a sheet with 17 steps to taking a shower without any adult help. It took a few months for him to memorize the whole process but I did happen. It is very time consuming but essential.
- Brushing teeth is another skill that takes a lot of work. There may be sensory sensitivities that must be tackled. The steps need to be taught. It is important that a child knows when his teeth need brushed and how to do it well. If she doesn't do an adequate job brushing, there will bad breath and he will look unkept with food in his teeth. He will have tooth decay that will complicate everyone's life. In the early days, a parent assists the child in this but it needs to become independent eventually. At some point, a child needs to learn to floss, use mouthwash and take care of other mouth related issues.
- Deodorant needs to become a daily habit even if it's not cold outside. This one can cause a lot of arguing especially in the winter.
- A child needs to learn when and how to clip fingernails and toenails. If he doesn't care for these well, it can cause a bad impression. My son learned if he didn't do this regularly, he would sag his socks with long toenails. There can be some good life lessons that a child learns as a parent chooses to make her independent by not reminding (nagging).
- As a child moves into adolescence, she must learn how to control acne. Acne can get out of control when it isn't dealt with aggressively.
Next week, we look at some practical how-to resources for children with learning differences in the area of good but simple hygiene.
Posted with Blogsy