Life skills for adults with developmental disabilities: everyday independence

What are life skills?

Life skills are the things most adults do every day without much thought: getting ready in the morning, asking for help, buying something at a store, or making a simple snack. The goal isn't to do everything alone. It's for each person to do as much as they can, with the right support for the rest.

Six areas of everyday independence

• Routines: following a daily schedule, getting ready on time, and knowing what comes next. A picture or written schedule can help.
• Safety: knowing a trusted person's phone number, crossing the street safely, and keeping personal information private around strangers.
• Rights and self-advocacy: knowing your rights, making choices, and saying what you want or don't want.
• Getting around: finding your way, knowing where to meet, and planning how to get there and back.
• Household tasks: making a simple meal, cleaning up, and doing laundry.
• Communication: greeting people, ordering at a counter, and telling someone when something is wrong.

Why practice works best in real places

A skill learned at a table doesn't always carry over to a busy store or a bus stop. Practicing where skills are really used, like a library, a café, or a park, helps people get used to real noise, lines, and choices. A few habits help:

• Work on one step at a time, and add the next once the first feels easy.
• Repeat the same skill often. Doing something every week builds more confidence than doing it once.
• Step back a little more each time, and notice progress out loud.

Knowing your rights and speaking up

Knowing your rights is a life skill too. The California Department of Developmental Services (DDS) publishes A Consumer's Guide to the Lanterman Act, a plain-language guide to rights under California law. It explains that people with developmental disabilities have the same rights as anyone else, including the right to make choices about where to live and work. If something doesn't feel right, it suggests telling someone, such as a relative, your service coordinator, or a clients' rights advocate. Practicing how to say "no" or ask for help makes those rights part of everyday life.

Questions families can ask a program

• Which everyday skills do adults practice, and where?
• How much time is spent out in the community?
• How do you teach rights, safety, and speaking up?
• How do you share progress with families, and can we talk with you in Spanish?

How BFF's Community Day Program helps

BFF's Community Day Program is for adults 22 and older in Orange County. Alongside weekly classes like art, gardening, book club, yoga, and dance, and volunteer work, Friends learn about rights, safety, and independence. Read more about day program activities, or book a one-hour visit to meet the team and ask your questions.