Research shows that daily living skills are extremely important for helping teens with autism become more independent adults. Indeed, adaptive skills may be more important than intelligence when it comes to predicting which teens will get a job or live on their own.

Teens with Autism struggle with (ADLs) the more basic skills like personal hygiene, brushing teeth etc... They also struggle with (IADLs) which refers to more complex living task such as meal preparation and Laundry among other tasks (GUO&Sapra 2020 

For example, one preliminary study assessed 300 adults with autism who underwent adaptive skills testing as children. Researchers found that those who had higher scores on basic skills, such as brushing teeth, making a purchase, and simple cooking, were more likely to be employed as adults. And those who were employed generally had a higher quality of life, less anxiety and more social contact. Learning these skills also impacts the extent to which a person can live self-sufficiently & independently within their routine environments. (Hong et al, 2015)

As extension Family and Consumer Science agent we focus on family and nutrition. Partnering with a Certified Applied Behavior Analysis I worked to start a health and nutrition program for her clients that have autism.  This program will cover ADLs & IADLs by teaching Hand washing and basic cleaning.   The program will also teach cooking skills such cutting, reading labels & recipes, nutrition, and portions. This program started June of 2023 after 4 successful meeting we are expanding the program to a monthly meeting and becoming a long term program.  As of December the youth in the program are trying new foods and are making changes to their eating habits.  The adults are working on portion control and are making meals at home.  As this program continues I hope to show more behavior changes in the teens and Adults with autism that helps them live self-sufficiently and independently.