COVID-19 and Autism: Keepin' Clean
The CDC has stated handwashing as an effective way to remove germs, avoid getting sick, and prevent the spread of germs to others related to COVID-19. Teaching your child how to wash their hands effectively is a great way to keep them safe from germs. Tips on teaching hygiene below!
Visuals and reinforcement
Using visuals is a helpful tip when teaching your child with autism how to wash their hands. Visuals can be helpful for those with autism because they offer a concrete stimulus to the verbal direction you are giving. For example “get some soap” may be harder to process than a picture of soap, or someone putting soap on their hands. A visual is the same every time, whereas a verbal direction can change person to person. If your child doesn’t want to wash their hands, you can try utilizing reinforcement “first wash your hands and then you can play.” If your child seems really aversive to water or handwashing consult a professional, but hand sanitizer is always another option as well. Always remember to praise, praise, praise those clean hands when you see them! Research shows that positive reinforcement (verbal praise) is an effective way to increase a skill.
Task Analysis
Task analysis works by chaining all the steps of a complex skill, into small parts and reinforcing the entire chain. Chaining is essentially fading out the prompts so that you are doing less and less and the child is doing more and more independently. Having a written or visual task analysis is helpful to the child to see each step in the order they need to do them.
Keep it positive
Another way to help keep your child’s hands clean is to avoid touching “public” or soiled objects. Instead of constantly saying “don’t touch that” or “no” when out and about, try reminding them what they can touch. For example, “Jonny, you can’t touch that marble on the ground but you can hold the cart. This tells the child what they should be doing and not just what they shouldn’t. If your kids are out with you while you run to the pharmacy or grocery store, another tip is to bring something appropriate for them to hold. If they’re holding a new (clean) squishy toy in their hands, they won’t be able to touch every single item on the shelves at Target.