Abstract
The acquisition and maintenance of functional skills are among the most important educational targets for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. These skills allow people to take care of their own essential needs and function independently in their environment. Functional skills extend to a wide range of skill areas, including: self-care, domestic, community, pre-vocational/vocational, recreational, social and behavior management skills. The acquisition of functional skills should be targeted early in life and extend into adulthood with strategic planning using systematic assessment. Assessment instruments, such as the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales II (ABS-II), the Scales of Independent Behavior-Revised (SIB-R), and the Assessment of Functional Living Skills (AFLS), are useful tools for planning functional curricula. In addition to these instruments, direct assessment (testing and observation) can be invaluable for verifying the presence or absence of these skills. The integration of functional skills can lead to many benefits that result in improved quality of life for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
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© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
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LaRue, R.H., Manente, C.J., Dashow, E., Sloman, K.N. (2016). Functional Skills. In: Singh, N. (eds) Handbook of Evidence-Based Practices in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Evidence-Based Practices in Behavioral Health. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26583-4_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26583-4_9
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