Thinking about life skills for special ed students is one of the most important parts of my job as a middle school special education teacher. Functional life skills activities are especially important at this age because our students are getting older and we want them to be valuable and independent members of society when they are finished with school.
Let’s discuss 5 life skills for special ed students in middle school to learn (Bonus- they are all age appropriate!)
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Before we start listing different life skills for special needs students, let’s discuss what life skills in special education are.
A life skills program focuses on everyday functional skills for special education students. This might be working on areas such as hygiene, social skills, cooking and functional academic skills.
Individuals in special education programming often struggle to learn functional skills. It is important to develop these skills in order to increase an individual’s ability to achieve greater independence. These life skills can even be broken down into different categories:
Life skills are the skills that are necessary for daily living and for establishing quality of life. These are the skills that if not done by an individual him or herself, others will have to do.
Life skills for special ed students in middle school are important for SELF-ADVOCACY and INDEPENDENCE. For example, an individual may learn his address and phone number. However, if he or she is not able to give a police officer this information in an emergency, it is not useful. This is a functional life skill that they will absolutely need to use one day.
Students in middle school are naturally given more responsibility. Our students may have less parental supervision and start to be given more independence at this stage in their life (depending on the child). Students need to be able to read and understand what some simple and functional signs mean in the community. Some examples would be: Being able to find the EXIT at a large stadium, locating the RESTROOM sign or knowing what a DO NOT WALK sign means.Reading functional signs is a huge part of safety for our students. If you need a fun and interactive way to practice this with your students, check out the Digital Community Signs available in my store.
If you work with middle school students, you know by now that personal hygiene can start to become an issue at this age. Work on life skills activities such as putting on deodorant, brushing hair, brushing teeth and making sure face and clothes are clean after eating.
Some children in middle school are starting to prep their own food at this age. Students in special education do not need to be any different from their peers in this area. Focus on helping them learn to follow a simple recipe. (pssst…..this is also a great way to sneak in your lesson on fractions without them even realizing!)
Don’t forget about:
By the time students get to middle school, they have probably been following a visual schedule for most of elementary school at this point. Middle school can be so different for students and this is the time where they can really thrive off of following their OWN schedule WITHOUT help. Teaching them skills like checking the time so as not be late for class and following their schedule without adult support are great things to work on.
Some of my students really struggle with this, even in middle school. (Sometimes I think the emotions actually run higher in middle school!) Students need to learn self control so that they can have the option of doing things like:
Role-playing, watching videos and incorporating social emotional check-ins can help a lot with this!
Are your students brand new to you or your district? Do you just have no idea where to begin when it comes to teaching life skills in special education? Check out the Life Skills Special Education Assessment for All Grades to help you!
Already taught all the life skills for special ed students in middle school that I discussed above? No problem! I created a FREE Life Skills Guide to help you with more ideas!
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