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Teaching Self-Advocacy & Resiliency Skills to Children with Special Needs

Children with special needs often have to learn and master specific skills to maneuver through life. Therefore, it is essential to teach them skills such as self-advocacy and resiliency, to help them survive in the long run. Here are some ways to instill these qualities in them.

1.Teach them self-awareness

The first step is to help them become self-aware about their special need. Once they have a complete understanding of it, they will start recognizing how they are affected by it throughout various spheres of life. Additionally, assist them in discovering what accommodation they might require to be able to perform as well as a child without special needs. Only then will your child be able to advocate for him or herself. A continuous learning process is thus one of the first steps to teaching self-advocacy

2.Use mistakes as a learning experience

If your child makes mistakes - which he will - use it as an opportunity to gain lessons from. Ensure the situation does not repeat itself in the future by helping them discover ways in which they should handle a future recurrence. This practice can hone his/her survival skills.

3.Help your child cope with stress

Help identify different stressors in your child’s life. If he acts in an out-of-the-ordinary way, assist him in returning to a calm state by trying various de-stressing methods like singing, drawing etc. When carried out on a continuous basis, this process will teach him resiliency skills, which in turn is important for long-term survival skills.

4.Encourage your child to set goals and achieve them 

Making your child with special needs set realistic and achievable goals will be highly motivational for him. Moreover, in the long run, he will be able to perform better at numerous tasks. Assisting him in setting and achieving his goals, will definitely boost his confidence as well.

Teaching self-advocacy and resilience to children with special needs is extremely important for their proper and smooth functionality throughout the day. It is also bound to enhance the overall quality of their life. Not only will they be able to cope better with everyday tasks, they will be able to express themselves confidently as well.

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