Daily living skills: getting dressed, washing up, and doing it on their own
Brushing teeth looks like one task. It’s really a dozen small steps in a row: find the toothbrush, add the toothpaste, brush every side, rinse, put it all back. When a child gets stuck on one step, the whole routine stalls, and a parent ends up doing it for them every morning and every night. Those steps are teachable, one at a time, until the routine belongs to your child.
Services designed and led by Oak & Arrow’s Board Certified Behavior Analysts: Paige Tully, BCBA #1-20-44228, CT license BA.001021, and Tiffany Salvatore, BCBA #1-25-81796, CT license BA.001840. Both came to behavior analysis from the classroom.
What it looks like at your house
- Getting dressed takes a parent, every single time.
- Teeth brushing that’s over in five seconds, or never starts.
- Handwashing that’s mostly a splash.
- Toys, plates, and clothes left wherever they landed.
- Morning and bedtime routines that only work with you standing there.
- Big feelings when a step gets skipped or the order changes.
How we work on it
In your bathroom, at your kitchen sink, in your child’s bedroom, at the times these routines actually happen. We break each routine into small steps, teach them in order, and use pictures, modeling, and plenty of practice so your child can follow along. As each step gets easier, we pull the help back, so the routine stops depending on a grown-up standing nearby.
We usually start with the routine that costs your family the most time or the most stress: dressing, brushing teeth, washing hands, cleaning up, or getting through the morning and bedtime sequence. The assessment tells us where to start.
Your part in it
Practice between sessions, mostly. A routine only sticks if it happens the same way on the days we’re not there. We’ll show you the steps we’re teaching, how much help to give, and when to step back. Waiting while your child works through a step you could finish in two seconds is harder than it sounds, and we’ll practice that part with you too.
Questions Parents Ask
More of what we work on
Social Skills
Taking turns, reading the room, making and keeping friends. Practiced in real settings, because that’s where friendships actually happen.
Functional Communication
Helping your child ask for what they need, in words, signs, or pictures. For many kids this is where everything else starts.
Behavior Support
Aggression, bolting, transitions that run the house. Every behavior is doing a job for your child. We find the job, then teach a safer, easier way to get it done.
Executive Functioning
Routines, transitions, starting and finishing things. The skills that make school days and mornings work.
Parent Collaboration
You’re part of every session, because the plan only works if it keeps working after I leave. Teaching you is part of the job.
Something else going on?
Most of what families bring me doesn’t fit neatly in a box, and the assessment is where we find out what actually helps.
Start with the interest form
Tell me a little about what’s going on. You’ll hear back from me, not an intake department, within 24 business hours.
Interest Form
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