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Daily living skills are so important to learn for any child. With my autistic daughter, we were so happy to partner with Gain to help with building up her functional life skills.

As Sweet B gets older, we’re trying to help her do more things on her own. Some things, like hygiene are taking longer, but other things like putting her dirty dishes in the sink and helping me put away dishes are easier. I think it’s because it’s more systematic and easier for her to understand. But we still want to work on daily living skills so, we’re going to talk about building up daily living skills in kids with autism. Of course, one important thing to keep in mind is that one person on the spectrum, is one person on the spectrum. What works for us, might not work for you.

We're trying to build up daily life skills with our autistic daughter. One of those ways is by doing laundry on her own.

We generate quite a bit of laundry and while I don’t mind doing laundry, it’s something that I want to be able to teach Sweet B and Squeaker to do on their own. I’m not trying to rush them, but especially with Sweet B, I think it will be beneficial to her in the long run. I’m not sure where she’ll be in ten years but she’ll most likely still be living at home.

And that’s fine with me. She’s my daughter, I’m her mom- wherever I am, is home.

But that doesn’t mean that she can’t start doing more things on her own in the meantime.

While I wouldn’t quite trust her in the kitchen yet, we’re working on daily living skills a little bit at a time. She can help make her bed and put her folded clothes away (after I’ve folded and sorted them for her), so I wanted to see how she would do with doing laundry.

The biggest issue? Measuring laundry detergent. While it may not seem like a challenge, for her it is. It’s the pouring and keeping the cup steady that challenges her and more often than not, we’d have two very frustrated individuals in the basement- glaring at the innocent laundry detergent. It’s something so simple and so easy that I do without a second thought.

But for Sweet B, even with all of the visual help in the world or hand over hand assistance, her motor skills just don’t quite allow for her to do it yet.

Enter Gain Flings.

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What’s so great about Gain Flings? They deliver an unsurpassed cleaning experience with OxiBoost for added cleaning power and a concentrated formula with 2X more cleaning ingredients than Gain liquid detergent that gives better cleaning on the toughest stains.

You can learn more about Gain Flings on their official Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube accounts.

But would a product like this help Sweet B?

Absolutely.

Not shown in our video was the first step of putting the Gain Flings pac in the washing machine. This step took us longer than I thought it would because she decided it was something she needed to play with first. I do not recommend letting them do this because well, it’s still laundry detergent.

We will be working on making visual cards for her to illustrate the step by step process.

Gain Flings pac in the washing machine, laundry in the washing machine, close the washing machine. Simple steps but having visual cards will definitely help her with the process.

She can’t quite reach the knobs to control the water yet so I will continue to do that for her. And well, she can’t read the settings either so that’s going to be one of those things that she’ll continue to require assistance with until I can create a good visual card for her.

Being able to do her own laundry, and mostly independently, is a huge step for Sweet B. Little by little, she’s gaining the independence in her daily living skills by being able to do every day things on her own.

And I couldn’t be more proud of her for it.

 

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Kori

Digital Product Creator at Kori at Home
Kori is a late diagnosed autistic/ADHD mom. She is currently located in Albany, NY where she is raising a neurodiverse family. Her older daughter is non-speaking autistic (and also has ADHD and Anxiety) and her youngest daughter is HSP/Gifted. A blogger, podcaster, writer, product creator, and coach; Kori shares autism family life- the highs, lows, messy, and real. Kori brings her own life experiences as an autistic woman combined with her adventures in momming to bring you the day-to-day of her life at home. Kori is on a mission to empower moms of autistic children to make informed parenting decisions with confidence and conviction.

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R U S S
R U S S
8 years ago

I think you’re doing an awesome job teaching her to do her laundry. I agree that this is such a huge step and it’s commendable. Your patience and her determination will go a long way.

I don’t think we have Gain Flings here in my country but I’ll make sure to check it out ( and try it as well ) if the time comes that the brand is brought here.

Gabriel
8 years ago

When she masters this, it will be such a huge moment for her. There are few things that I did growing up that made me feel more independent than doing my own laundry.

Diana Villa
8 years ago

I never tried Gain products before but after reading your post I am going to check it out, thanks 😀

michele d
michele d
8 years ago

I do understand your challenges. I love the idea of you making visual cards to help. I bet it will. I do something simular for my son as well.

Terry
8 years ago

More Moms should be like you and teach their children skills needed to live. Even those with autisim can learn if given the chance to prove themselves. Good for you!!

celebbabylaundry
8 years ago

This is so important, a mother like you is exactly what kids needs; especially those with autism. learning these skills will surely benefit them.

Mistee Dawn
8 years ago

My niece has autism. I will definitely be sharing this with my sister. It is a lot of great information for her to have.

Ourfamilyworld
8 years ago

You’re doing a great job teaching her do the laundry. I have a friend whose daughter is autistic. I will share this to her.

Chubskulit Rose
8 years ago

I admire you for being so patient with her and teaching her stuff around the house. I salute all Moms like you who have the dedication, patience and most importantly, the LOVE that you have, kudos!

Lynndee
8 years ago

It’s so great to know and very heartwarming too that she could do things on her own now. Like you, I would be one proud momma too.

Ann Bacciaglia
Ann Bacciaglia
8 years ago

I love Gain Flings. It makes doing laundry so simple. No more measuring. My niece is five and is Autistic. They are working on potty training her right now. It is so difficult because she is non verbal and is more like a two year old. We are hoping one day she will be able to do some things for herself.

CourtneyLynne
8 years ago

This is such a brilliant idea! I haven’t tried this product yet, but I really should! Anything to make life a tad bit easier sounds great I my book!

Krystal
8 years ago

Gain is a quality brand. I will have to check this out. Thanks for sharing your tips.

Bonnie @ wemake7
Bonnie @ wemake7
8 years ago

You sound like your doing a great job with your daughter and helping her learn ways to be independent. Gain flings sound like a great way to do the laundry.

HilLesha
8 years ago

Parenting a child with Autism can be challenging, according to a couple of cousins who have children with this disorder. However, it sounds like you have everything down pat! 🙂

Michelle @ Dishes and Dust Bunnies
8 years ago

It looks like you’re doing a great job teaching her daily living skills. I’m glad that there are products like this that make teaching these skills much easier.

Kelly Hutchinson
8 years ago

I have a 13 year old son with asperger’s. It is so hard to get him to even take a bath let alone learn to do the laundry! Good for you!

Yona Williams
8 years ago

I did not know that Gain came out with a pod-like detergent. Cool. I also like the green color of it – since that is my favorite color.