Practice is incredibly important when teaching new skills to individuals with autism in order for them to perform those new skills correctly. Really, it’s crucial for any of us to learn something new and translate that behaviour into a habit that can be relied upon.

Even as parents and caregivers it’s often incumbent on you to learn how to teach your child new skills and practice that teaching technique in order to develop yourself to be the best caregiver you can be.

So to make it all a bit easier here are some tips on when and how to practice teaching new skills.

1. Practice when your child is calm so you can have as much of their full attention.

2. Start small and keep expectations low. For example, when practicing wearing a mask during the COVID-19 pandemic, start with a short time expectation for mask-wearing such as 1 minute and build up to a longer time expectation, such as 30 minutes.

3. Walk them through relevant social stories so they know the situations they are preparing for and what is expected of them.

4. Roleplay different scenarios to help bring context to practicing new skills.

5. Lower your personal expectations. You have high hopes and aspirations and that’s great but allow your child to get there at their own pace. They will surprise you with what they can achieve.

Why should you roleplay? Roleplay allows you to:

• run through different scenarios that may trigger your child;

• practice different situations with best-case results;

• practice strategies your child can use if they are having a difficult time during transitions