Life Skills Download: Taking a Shower
When we lived in Argentina last year, one of the things I started doing was life skills to help my autistic daughter with activities of daily living. I did "taking a bath", but also made a "taking a shower" version of it as well because they require different steps. When we were in Argentina, I put it up on the wall in the bathroom so she knew exactly what she needed to do with pictures and a checklist. In the time since we've been back, she's stopped baths altogether and has struggled a little bit with the steps in the shower. I decided to pull the "taking a shower" download back out to help her. When we were in Argentina I printed out the steps, used single plastic sheets for each step and taped them on the wall. I also put the checklist with the steps on the wall so she knew exactly what she needed to do to take a bath. Now that we're back home, I asked her if she wanted the checklist or all the steps with the pictures like we did with the bath and she told me she just wanted the checklist. For this download, I essentially created four different versions. I did "taking a bath" and "taking a shower" with steps and pictures or the checklist for both. Once I printed out the checklist, I put them into the laminating sheets and through the laminator.
When it came to my daughters actual shower, I bought her a little shower mirror that suctions onto the wall and has a nice little hook on it to hang her little scrubbing brush on. I wanted to put the checklist on the other side of the shower; however, the soap dispenser I installed a few years ago was in the way. She's not using it right now since she prefers to have bottles so I took it out. I was a little worried about getting it off of the shower wall, but with a little bit of work with my utility knife, I was able to get the casing to come right off and then all I had to do was peel off the sticky bits. It probably took me a total of 20-30 minutes to get all of it off and then I just wiped it down with a wipe.
Once I got all of it off, I took the three pages of the laminated checklist and put it on the shower wall so she could easily see it while taking her shower. Finally, I added the shampoo, conditioner, and soap she wants to use. The whole set up is perfect for her and it's been working out really well. I love that I don't have to hover while she's showering now.
So that's it! Super easy with a few little updates, but it's exactly what she needed. If you think the "Bathing Life Skills" download would help someone in your life you find it for $5 in the shop.
