Adaptive Skills

Adaptive Skills (see full Glossary)

When a child is between 8 and 10 years old, basic adaptive skills are almost completely developed. Children are quite independent in their daily lives and rely very little on others for things like dressing and hygiene.
Children at this age can:

• shower or bathe on their own;
• clean themselves when they get dirty;
• get ready for bed;
• prepare their clothes for the next day;
• brush and floss their teeth (Fig. 1);
• dress and undress completely independently;
• serve him or herself at the dinner table;
• pour him or herself a drink from a jug at the table;
• prepare a simple snack (for example, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich);
• clean up his or her messes (may need a reminder or two).

Figure 1. Brushing teeth

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