Transition2Life
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Daily Living Skills

Voter suppression laws, purged voter files, and other government obstacles can make it very difficult for teens with disabilities to vote.* Teaching teens with disabilities to vote is a major skill in transitioning from student to adult. Teaching teens to vote is also an empowering activity. Teaching Teens to Vote Teens with special needs must receive education in transition skills according to federal mandates. Among those mandated skills are: “Youth (should be ) able to exp

Prescription Education Week is a great time to teach teens with special needs how to renew a prescription. Renewing a prescription is a vital adult living skill and can be especially important to young adults with special needs. Free Lesson on Renewing Prescriptions “Renewing a Prescription” from Daily Living Skills’ workbook Using the Telephone offers important step-by-step information on how to use the telephone to renew maintenance prescriptions using today’s automated sys

Helping teens stay safe while driving is an important adult living skill. Road rage can be a deadly problem for young people and learning how to cool it can be a life-saving adult living skill for teens, and especially teens with special needs. Road Rage is Common According to MOTOsafety, 40% of teens experience anger while on the road.* The article link below offers good advice on steps teens can take to avoid the stress of road rage and help teens remain calm while driv

October’s National Financial Planning Month is a great time to help teens learn the fundamentals of budget planning. Creating, and living within, a budget is an essential adult living skill that will allow young adults, especially those with special needs, to be successful in life. Try a Free Lesson “Creating a Budget” from Daily Living Skills’ workbook Paying Bills is a good way to set out the fundamentals of creating a budget. This free lesson offers the basics in budge

The statistics are dismal: less than 50% of the 18-year-olds are registered to vote--and fewer than 4 out of 10 registered voters cast a ballot in the midterms. And yet, teens with special needs rely on government programs in order to live their best lives. So how do we teach them about empowerment through their vote? Transition 2 Life and Daily Living Skills narrated PowerPoint presentation, "Get Out the Vote," provides a non-partisan lesson on the importance of voting and w

We all know that mental health issues have become an epidemic in our country today. And, those issues become especially intensified as the darkness of winter brings on the “winter blues.” Maybe that’s why October contains National Depression Education Month, National Mental Health Awareness Week, and National Emotion Awareness Month. Do you think they’re trying to tell us something? Fighting the Winter Blues But, while there’s no question that “the blues” are more prevalent d

Use “Self-Improvement Month” to get your students on the right foot for school—and life. It can often be difficult for students with special needs to keep their lives organized and efficient. This free lesson from Daily Living Skills can help your students begin the school year with a new set of healthy lifestyle choices. Self-Improvement Starts with Small Steps This free lesson begins with the basics. But these are the foundation on which all other skills rest. A healthy

You hear about the “affordability crisis” everywhere today. But what is it, and how do we teach teens with special needs about affordability? Here is a free lesson breaking down the key components of affordability for students with both special needs and the general education population alike. How to Teach This Lesson Display the graphic. Discuss each of the four components of affordability displayed on the graphic. Have students provide examples of each component. Brainstorm

It seems there’s a natural disaster every day. This makes it vitally important to teach our teens with special needs how to prepare for and react to an emergency as part of their transition skills for adult living. Help on the Web The U.S. government provides a valuable website at Ready.gov for any emergency that happens across the country. Whether you’re preparing for a flood, earthquake, hurricane, tornado, or other disaster, they have an impressive array of resources t

Budgeting is an essential skill needed for independent living. By starting with small steps, we can help our students with special needs learn this vital skill and enhance their ability to manage money responsibly and make wise choices for their lives. Buying Lunch is a lesson from Transition in Ten which allows students to practice budgeting a fixed amount of money to buy a variety of lunches. This quick lesson makes good bell-work, or easy practice during rotations or stati

It’s difficult to be financially responsible if you don’t have finances to work with! And creating an eye-catching resume is a first step towards helping students with special needs find their first jobs. September’s National Revise Your Resume Day is the perfect time to help students create that important employment tool. Getting Started For students with special needs, creating a resume is not a 5-minute project, but that doesn’t mean that their final produce can’t be impre

Teaching teens self-care is a vital skill for adult living. September is Self-Care Awareness Month and a good time to teach teens with special needs how to take care of themselves. Self-Care involves a variety of skills young people need to live healthy lives and understanding the basics of those skills can be—literally—life-saving. Increasing Awareness of Self-Care Self-Care Awareness starts with that very awareness that self-care is necessary. Many teens, especially tho

With a driver’s license comes the responsibility of obtaining auto insurance. Teens can benefit from learning how to get the best insurance rates even before they get that first driver’s license. This lesson gives teens 5 steps to take to get the best insurance rates possible. How to Teach the Lesson Discuss insurance. Explain how auto insurance is rated by risk. The more risk an insurance company thinks it has, the higher the cost or rate. The less risk they think they have,

August is National Sandwich Month and the hot weather is a perfect time to help teens explore the cooking skill of making sandwiches. Especially teens with special needs can use an extensive repertoire of sandwich recipes. With whole grain bread, a protein source and a healthy serving of vegetables, either on or with the sandwich, this simple combination can be a boon for healthy food choices. Helping Students Create Healthy Sandwiches Here is a free lesson for you and yo

We talked about personal privacy last week. But there’s more to protecting privacy than just hiding your address. Teaching young people, and especially young people with special needs, how to protect their privacy is an important independent living skill. How to Do This Lesson Read Page 260 to help students understand what privacy settings are and what purpose they serve in protecting students’ privacy. Read Privacy Setting Guidelines. Discuss each of the apps and sites discu

Selecting tasty produce is an important adult living skill for teens with special needs—or any young person. Knowing how to choose good produce can be the difference between a delightful meal and food that is inedible. Apple Week is the second week in August and an excellent time to help your students learn to pick tasty fruit. Picking Produce is a Science Apples, along with their pear cousins, are part of the pomes family of fruits. Picking Produce—Fruits is from the Dai

Hackers and scammers are everywhere. They are constantly trying to break into your personal information. Teaching young people, and especially young people with special needs, how to protect their privacy is an important independent living skill. This lesson will help students understand what information should be kept private and why. How to do This Lesson Read “Protecting Your Money.” Have students discuss any times when they or someone they know was hacked or their persona

National Smile Week is a wonderful time to address this vital role in relationship building for teens on the spectrum and other students who have difficulty with social skills. We’re Hard-Wired to Smile Did you know that even a mini-smile of as little as 4/100’s of a second can make another person smile back at you! That’s less time than it takes to blink! Helping students master the social skill of smiling at others can be a huge step towards building relationships and

Impulse buying is one of the fastest ways to blow a budget. For teens just learning to manage their money, impulse buys can be irresistible. Help young people, and especially young people with special needs, understand the psychology behind impulse buys and what they can do to avoid their pitfalls and stay on budget. How to do the Lesson Ask students to describe their last impulse purchase. List them on a chart or board and analyze if there are any common pitfalls that studen

August is National Immunization Awareness Month and a good time to help your teens with special needs learn about and get control of their personal medical records regarding immunizations. Keeping Track of Vaccines Can Be Overwhelming For any young person, keeping track of the dozens of immunizations currently recommended can be a daunting task. But, for teens with special needs, it can feel downright overwhelming. Yet, in a few short years, many of your students will be