Taking responsibility for oneself has been identified as a necessary skill for teens to prepare them for their future adult responsibilities. It is important for teenagers to develop personal skills in many areas for success and independence. Personal skills are practiced every day in the home, school and community. For the teen with an Intellectual Disability(ID) this will vary, depending upon the severity of their ID being mild, moderate or severe. The teen with a mild ID will possibly require very little support whereas teens with a moderate and severe ID will require continued adult support.
At school the teen will be required to have developed personal skills so that they can:
- Undertake their school work without being distracted
- Be organised and bring all required materials to class
- Complete and submit homework tasks
- Plan and organise workload for all classes
- Understand issues of privacy
- Show safe computer skills to carry out their work
- Understand what a friend is
Personal skills in the home that need to be developed are:
- Management of personal hygiene routine
- Management of assigned household chores
- Management of school homework, assignments, social activities and family events
Personal skills in the community that are required for success are:
- An understanding of right and wrong
- An understanding of road rules and being safe in the community
- An ability to communicate and provide personal details when requested by an authority eg.police
These skills can be learnt by the teen with an ID by providing them with the opportunity to practice, ‘learn, learn and overlearn’ so they can use the skills in many environments.
