Transition2Life
&
Daily Living Skills

With summer right around the corner, it’s a perfect time to help teens learn some basic outdoor chores that will help them transition into adult life with useful skills. By helping teens learn responsible adulting skills, we can help them find satisfaction and, even joy, in the great outdoors. Helping Teens Be Helpful Whether your students will eventually share responsibilities in a group home, live in an apartment with a small common area, or have their own home, basic g

Getting your password hacked is a pain. And it could end up being very expensive. Teach teens with special needs how to protect their passwords with this lesson from Financial Literacy by Daily Living Skills. Beginning the Lesson The Problem. Between 800,000 and 1 million people get their password hacked every day. Bad actors launch over 50 million attempts to hack accounts every day. And approximately 38% of us get hacked in our lifetimes—mostly the 65% of us who use the sam

June is a perfect month to introduce students to fruits and veggies. In fact, June is National Fresh Fruits and Veggies Month! Help students create a cookbook of imaginative recipes for Avocado Toast and other simple breakfast and snack recipes using the abundance of summer fruits and veggies with the lesson and template provided here. Making Avocado Toast Millennials are gravitating towards Avocado Toast. This simple, yet nutritious combination can be eaten for breakfast

As young people transition into adulthood, they begin to want big-ticket items to create their dream life. Especially when students have special needs, it can be difficult to understand what it takes to budget and save for high priced items. Help students understand how to set a goal and save for it with this financial lesson from Daily Living Skills, “Paying for My Life Goals.” Beginning the Lesson Brainstorm “Wants.” Help students list the kinds of big wants they desire for

Just in time for Father’s Day, June is “Hygiene for Guys Month.” As teen guys’ bodies change, it is important to know how to keep clean and presentable. Teen guys often need guidance in personal hygiene to help them cope with the changes that happen to their bodies during adolescence. “Hygiene for Guys Month” is a perfect time to help teen boys develop a system of personal hygiene that will allow them to be healthy and socially acceptable. Basic Skills in Hygiene for Guys

Summer is a time when teens are eager to hit the road and ride to new adventures during their time off. New graduates can’t wait to test their new-found independence. Help teens (and teens with special needs) understand how they can save on auto insurance and be safer and more responsible on the road with this Daily Living Skills lesson. Introducing the Lesson Time It Out Sit in silence. Then, every 14 seconds…ring a bell, clap your hands, slam down a book…depending on your s

June is National Safety Month. And rightly so. With school out for the summer, many young people with disabilities are out and about on their own. These teens and young adults need simple, effective tools to keep them safe out in public. Personal Safety Tips Independence Basics from the Daily Living Skills series helps students recognize circles of trust with people they know and don’t know. This books also discusses the kinds of lures that strangers use to lure people to the

May ushers in Emergency Medical Services Week and is a good time to teach teens about when and how to call emergency medical services. Knowing when to call for emergency medical services is an important adult living skill and the simple worksheet accompanying this lesson can help teachers create a lesson around emergency medical services. Teens Need to Know When 911 is Appropriate Not every medical situation requires a call to 911. Not only do 911 services cost more but u

The second week in May is National Etiquette Month and a good time to practice manners and mannerly behavior with your teens with special needs. Common courtesy can sometimes be difficult for teens with special needs as they do not “read” the cues others take for granted. But, with a little help, you can teach manners and etiquette to your students in an easy and fun way. How to Practice Mannerly Greetings Students with special needs sometimes have difficulty looking peop

May is Mental Health Awareness month and a good time to introduce mental health awareness to teens and young people. The reality is stark: the legacy of Covid is a huge uptick in mental health issues for our children and their families. Understanding mental illness and how and where to get help is a vital skill for teens and young adults. Knowing where to get help and overcoming the stigma of asking for such help can—quite literally—save someone’s life. This lesson will hel

February is “Eating Disorder Awareness Month” and a good time for teachers of special needs teens to provide their students with the information they need to make healthy eating choices and be aware when troubled eating patterns arise. Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses with some of the highest overall mortality rates of any mental illness. And, teens are especially susceptible. But, with early intervention, help can be found. Get the Facts on Eating Disorders

It can be difficult for young people to afford clothes for their first interviews and jobs. February’s Secondhand Wardrobe Awareness Month is a wonderful time to help students learn about the advantages of shopping secondhand. Style on a Dime “Thrifters,” or people who regularly shop at thrift stores, know that real deals can be made by shopping secondhand. In fact, they say that thrift-shopping saves shoppers about 90% of an item’s new, retail price on a regular basis.

Valentine’s Day is also National Condom Day. Clearly, somebody had a sense of humor—and a good idea—since 50% of the pregnancies in the U.S. are unplanned. Fifty percent . And, while discussing condom use with teens with special needs may be a difficult or uncomfortable topic, federal mandates for transition services for teens with special needs requires that we educate our students on matters of sexuality. Why Condoms? The truth is, any comprehensive sexual education pro

When the world is good, our students receive many random acts of kindness. People may reach for things that are out of reach. Or, they might alter a game to accommodate our student’s needs. They might go out of their way to include our kids in their activities. And, that is good. However, we can also help our students feel the empowerment that comes from being the giver of a random act of kindness and there is no better time to do that than during this month’s National Rand

Deep into the cold of winter, there’s nothing as comforting as a bowl of warm oatmeal. Maybe that’s why “National Oatmeal Month” falls in January. For teens with special needs, making this meal by themselves can be a satisfying adulting skill that they can take with them into independent life. And, the ease and simplicity of this recipe makes the process perfect for introducing teens to the art of cooking. Free “Making Oatmeal” Video This oatmeal is made in a microwave

Wouldn’t you know that they’d make the third week of January Healthy Weight Week? It’s like they knew we’d all be looking at our resolutions and slapping that one onto the list. In fact, losing weight, getting healthier, and improving our lifestyles are all resolutions that always make the top ten of people’s desires. So, What Do We Do? Two weeks ago we discussed how to make a resolution that works. Remember: baby steps. Actionable goals. But, you can’t make a reasonabl

After the holidays, many students are left with a desire to thank friends and family for the gifts of the season, but no knowledge of how to write a thank-you note. Expressing thanks ties in nicely with January’s National Universal Letter Writing week and lets students learn how to format an effective thank-you. Begin with a Template Too often parents and teachers ask students to write a thank-you note only to be met with the phrase, “What do I say?” Providing students

There’s a joke that says the most successful business in the world would be one that is a gym the first two weeks in January and a donut shop the rest of the year. That’s the trouble with New Year’s resolutions: we all start out with good intentions, but quickly lose our interest and ability to keep up. The Problem with Resolutions Too often, the problem with resolutions is that we try to take on the world. “I’m going to lose twenty pounds, keep my finances in complete

At the end of October, when stores discount their Halloween candy, it’s a great time to grab a bunch and teach students about simple and...

Budgeting is an essential skill needed for independent living. By starting with small steps, we can help our students with special needs...