Hi, and welcome! I'm Stephanie. When my son was little, someone told me he'd never be independent with hygiene. Today he's 13, and he showers on his own from start to finish. It took years of trial and error, and a lot of figuring out how to teach skills that other kids seem to just pick up. That's why this community exists. It's a place for parents, caregivers, and educators to share what's working, ask about what isn't, and find practical tools without having to dig for them. Here's how to get the most out of it: 🎓 One Skill at a Time (Classroom): a new step-by-step life skill every week, with printables 🎧 Daily Support & Tips: strategies, audio episodes, and real-life examples ❓ Questions: stuck on something? Post it. Someone here has probably been there. 🛡️ Health & Safety: plans and resources for the tough stuff Your first step: reply below with: 1️⃣ Your first name and who you're supporting (your child's age, or your role if you're an educator) 2️⃣ The ONE everyday skill that's hardest right now That's all you need to share. I read every reply, and your answers help decide what we cover next. 💙

Inclusion can be as simple as a picture. For a lot of our kids, trick-or-treating is a whole sequence of steps: knock, say "trick or treat," hold out the bag, say "thank you." And it all happens in the dark, in costume, with a stranger at every door. A simple visual turns that unknown into something they can see, practice and do. Visual supports aren't a crutch. They're a bridge, so every kid gets to join in. 💜 Now I want to hear from YOU: 👻 How did you navigate Halloween this year? 🍬 What tools did your kids use trick-or-treating? Visual cards, a social story, a communication device, headphones, a teal pumpkin route? Share in the comments. Your idea might be exactly what another family needs next year.

“Your son will never be independent with hygiene.” Those were words someone said to me when my son was little. And as a mom, those words stayed with me. Today, he's 13. He walks into the bathroom, turns on the shower and completes his entire shower routine independently. Did it happen overnight? Absolutely not. There were years of frustration, trial and error, tears (sometimes mine!), and figuring out what actually worked for him. And here's what I learned: Sometimes our kids aren't refusing to do something. They genuinely don't know HOW to do it. I recently gave a talk about how we built my son's hygiene independence, and I wanted to share the 19-minute audio with all of you here in our community. We talk about things like: -The difference between "won't" and "can't." Sometimes what looks like defiance is actually a missing skill. I share the story of a mom who thought her son was refusing to brush his teeth, only to discover he couldn't identify which toothbrush was his. -How to use anchoring. A simple strategy that can make hygiene routines more predictable and reduce some of those daily battles. -Why it's OK to skip a step. Sometimes temporarily removing the hardest part of a routine is exactly what helps a child learn the rest. This isn't about expecting every child to become completely independent. Every child has different abilities, needs and timelines. It's about finding ways to help our kids participate more, build confidence and gain whatever level of independence is possible for them. 🎧 The audio is just 19 minutes. Listen while you're driving to school pickup, folding laundry or finally getting a few quiet minutes after bedtime. And then I want to hear from you. What's ONE hygiene skill your child is struggling with right now? Is it getting into the shower? Washing their hair? Toothbrushing? Toileting? Or something else entirely? Share it in the comments. Maybe another parent has been through the exact same thing and found something that helped.

Six nonverbal children, ages 6 to 8, sat on a school bus in Brooklyn, NY for more than four hours. Investigators released their findings this week. On a December morning last school year, the students should have reached their school before 9 a.m. They didn’t arrive until about 1:25 p.m. The driver got lost and never called the school, the bus depot, or anyone else. One child had wet herself by the time they arrived. One mother only knew where her children were because she had put tracking tags on them. I’ve been thinking about that mom all weekend. She had a backup plan, and it was the only reason anyone knew where those kids were. Our kids can’t always tell us what happened on the bus. Some can’t tell us at all. So the plan has to speak for them. This week, I’d like each of us to put one together. Here’s how. 1. Write a one-page “About Me” for the bus Give a copy to the driver and the aide (and a spare for the substitute folder). Include: - How your child communicates: words, signs, a device, or behaviors that mean “I need help” - What overwhelm looks like for them, and what helps - Medical or toileting needs - Your phone number in big print 2. Ask the “what if” questions out loud Call transportation or bring it up at the IEP meeting: - If the bus is late, lost, or breaks down, who calls me, and how soon? - Does the driver have a phone and the school’s number? - What happens when there’s a substitute driver or aide? Who briefs them? - How will I hear about incidents on the bus? Get the answers in writing if you can. 3. Check what your IEP says about transportation Transportation can be a related service under IDEA, and that can include supports like an aide, seating, or a communication plan. If the IEP just says “bus” and nothing else, it may be time to ask for more. 4. Set your own alarm Know your child’s usual arrival time. Decide ahead of time: if I haven’t heard they arrived by ___, I call ___. Some families use a tracker in a backpack. If you go that route, check your district’s policy first.

If your child or student is past the initial stage of learning the shower routine — turning on the water, getting wet, using soap and rinsing — the next question is: Are they actually washing their whole body? That’s a different skill. Knowing how to take a shower doesn’t necessarily mean knowing which body parts need to be washed, where those body parts are or recognizing when an area has been missed. That’s the idea behind our new Shower by Number visual. Instead of teaching the overall shower routine again, it breaks the body into 10 concrete areas — hair, face, neck, chest, armpits, stomach and sides, private area, upper legs, lower legs and feet. The student simply matches the number on the body to the number on the guide and works their way from 1 to 10. I started this system when working with my own son. We used stickers to start and a rudimentary body map. But it worked. And slowly he built up the range of what he needed to wash. For parents, special education programs, OTs and life-skills classrooms, this can become the next step in teaching shower independence: moving from “I know the shower routine” to “I know how to wash my entire body.” PS - a post on how to use mirrors coming soon!