Building Independence: Ordering for Himself 🍽️
Building Independence: Ordering for Himself 🍽️
There was a time when we had to prompt Ben through almost every step of ordering at a restaurant.
“Tell her what you want to drink.”
“What do you want to eat?”
“Tell her what you want with it.”
One little step at a time, we slowly faded those prompts.
Now Ben can order his entire meal on his own — his drink, his food, his sides and any changes he wants.
The part we sometimes still prompt him with is simply remembering to say please and thank you.
Ben has some OCD around food, especially worrying that certain foods might touch or be mixed together. When he is ordering, he can become very focused on making sure everything is understood correctly. Because of that, he may sometimes sound very direct or factual. It isn’t his intention to be rude — he’s concentrating on making sure his order feels safe and predictable to him.
So now, instead of prompting what to say, we might simply remind him:
“Don’t forget to say thank you.”
And to me, that shows how much has changed.
Independence didn’t happen all at once. We prompted, practiced, stepped back, and then stepped back a little more.
Sometimes progress is realizing that the help you’re giving today is much smaller than the help you once had to give. ❤️
What everyday skill are you working on building more independence with right now?
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Building Independence: Ordering for Himself 🍽️
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Sharing lived autism experience, practical communication strategies that helped our child find his voice, music, and hope for families!
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