Daily living skills are the actions that let a person participate in ordinary routines: communicating a need, getting dressed, eating, caring for personal belongings, moving through the community, and asking for help when something is wrong.
They deserve deliberate attention. In a longitudinal study that followed autistic participants from age 2 to 21, daily living skills continued to develop, but many young adults still performed well below age expectations. The authors recommended making these skills a clear part of support planning, especially before the transition to adulthood (Bal et al., 2015). More recent longitudinal research also links stronger daily living skills with some better adult outcomes (Clarke et al., 2021; Lord et al., 2025).
This checklist is a starting map. It is not a diagnosis, a developmental test, or a list of skills someone must perform without support to be successful.
The same framework can be used with children, teenagers, and adults. Keep the items that fit the person’s actual routines and add age- or context-specific steps such as medication support, transport, money, employment, or household management when they become relevant.
Use three marks, not pass or fail
For each item, write one of these beside it after you print the page:
- I — Independent: the person starts and completes the step in the real routine.
- S — Supported: the person participates with a visual, model, reminder, adapted tool, AAC, or another useful support.
- N — Not a priority now: the item is unsafe, irrelevant, unwanted, inaccessible, or less important than another skill.
You can also add a short note about which support works. “Supported with a picture strip” is much more useful than a bare yes or no.
Independence does not mean doing everything alone. It includes knowing what support you need, having access to it, and being able to ask for it.
Functional communication during daily routines
- Communicates “yes,” “no,” “stop,” or “not that” in a reliable form
- Asks for help when a step is difficult or unclear
- Requests a break before distress becomes overwhelming
- Communicates pain, discomfort, hunger, thirst, or a bathroom need
- Makes a choice between realistic options
- Tells another person when a usual support or device is missing
Speech is only one possible form. Gestures, signs, pictures, writing, and speech-generating devices can all support functional communication. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association recommends a multimodal, individualized approach and notes that AAC has no prerequisite skill requirement (ASHA AAC Practice Portal).
Personal care and hygiene
- Notices or accepts a cue that a hygiene routine is starting
- Washes and dries hands using an accessible sequence
- Participates in toothbrushing with an adapted grip, timer, or visual if useful
- Participates in bathing or showering while communicating comfort and boundaries
- Uses the toilet or participates in an individualized toileting routine
- Manages wiping, flushing, clothing, and handwashing at the current support level
- Participates in hair, nail, skin, menstrual, or shaving care that is relevant to them
- Identifies when a personal-care product is empty, uncomfortable, or not working
Do not assume refusal is simply noncompliance. Pain, motor difficulty, an aversive texture, an unpredictable step, or lack of a reliable way to say “stop” can all change what the routine requires.
Dressing and clothing
- Chooses clothing from a small set of weather- and activity-appropriate options
- Finds the front, back, inside, and outside of common clothing
- Puts on and removes one familiar item
- Manages a zipper, button, snap, elastic waist, or an adapted alternative
- Puts dirty clothing in an agreed place
- Communicates when clothing is wet, painful, too hot, too cold, or sensory-unfriendly
Food and kitchen participation
- Communicates food and drink preferences without having to guess
- Gets a safe snack or drink at the current supervision level
- Uses the utensils, cup, plate, or adapted equipment that works for them
- Helps with one repeatable meal-preparation step
- Clears or puts away one item after eating
- Follows an individualized safety rule for heat, knives, appliances, choking, or allergies
Feeding, swallowing, nutrition, and severe food restriction can involve health risks. Those concerns need individualized input from an appropriate clinician rather than a generic teaching sequence.
Home routines and belongings
- Follows a short morning or evening sequence with the lightest useful support
- Finds and returns frequently used belongings to a consistent place
- Packs or checks a bag using a written, picture, or object list
- Completes one meaningful household task from start to finish
- Sorts rubbish, laundry, dishes, or supplies into their usual locations
- Notices when a routine is finished and moves to the next activity
Community and safety
- Stays with the agreed person, route, or boundary in a public setting
- Carries or can access identification and emergency contact information when appropriate
- Recognizes a small set of personally relevant safety signals
- Stops and checks before a road, driveway, platform edge, or another known hazard
- Identifies a trusted person or place to approach for help
- Communicates that they are lost, unsafe, in pain, or need to leave
Safety skills should be practiced in graduated, supervised conditions. Do not test a new skill by unexpectedly removing support in a real hazard.
Self-management and self-advocacy
- Uses a schedule, timer, checklist, or reminder system that is accessible to them
- Recognizes an early sign of overload, fatigue, hunger, pain, or confusion
- Chooses or requests a regulation support that actually helps
- Tolerates a small, planned change with preparation and a way to opt out or ask for help
- Participates in choosing a goal that affects their own daily life
- Reviews what made a routine easier or harder after it is over
How to choose the first skill to teach
Do not start with the item that looks most age-typical. Start with leverage.
Choose a skill that meets at least two of these conditions:
- It improves safety or access. The person can communicate pain, get help, or participate more safely.
- It reduces daily friction. The same difficult moment happens most days.
- It matters to the person. The skill supports a preference, a chosen activity, privacy, comfort, or autonomy.
- It unlocks other routines. Asking for help, following a short visual sequence, or tolerating one small change may support many activities.
- It can be practiced naturally. The routine already happens often enough for learning without creating an all-day therapy plan.
If several items qualify, choose the smallest step that could create a visible improvement this week.
Turn one checklist item into a teachable plan
“Get dressed independently” is too large to teach as one action. A usable plan names the routine, the next step, the support, and the fading decision.
For example:
- Routine: getting ready for school
- Next step: pull on an already-oriented T-shirt
- Current support: shirt laid flat in the same direction plus one visual cue
- Success: completes the step on four ordinary mornings, not only during practice
- Fade: move the visual cue farther away, then pause before pointing to it
- Generalize: try a second familiar shirt before changing the room, time, and helper
This is more informative than recording that dressing was “good” or “bad.” It also protects against prompt dependence because the plan states how help will become lighter.
Review progress without turning home into a clinic
Once a week, ask:
- Is the person doing more of the step before help arrives?
- Is the support becoming easier to use or less intrusive?
- Does the skill work with another familiar item, person, or setting?
- Is the routine calmer, safer, faster, or more self-directed?
- Does the person still want this goal?
If the answer is no, change the task or support before increasing pressure. The best daily living plan is the one that makes real participation more possible.