Steps to Independence:
Building Life Skills for Children with ASD
Developed by Metro SPLISE: West Metro Autism Network
September 2001
The Metro SPLISE West Metro Autism Network, comprised of 14 school districts, with
input from all team members representing Early Childhood to Transition Plus, identified
essential skills for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. This tool is not meant to be
all-inclusive, or to be used in isolation. Rather, this tool is meant to help teams plan
effective interventions for future environments. It is recognized that some of the identified
skills will be very challenging for some of our students with Autism Spectrum Disorders.
While the skills are listed generally in a chronological order, this tool is not necessarily
meant as a developmental list, but rather essential skills for different educational settings.
The intent of identifying these as survival skills is to focus family and staff attention on
future needs for appropriate educational planning.
Ratings:
1
2
3
4
Doesn’t perform
Does inconsistently and/or needs prompts
Performs independently in familiar environments
Generalized across environments
Special consideration to the committee who compiled and organized the information: Laura Collins,
Laura Flaherty, Sarah Kyrklund, Sarah Lund, Kathy Patton, Michele Suedbeck, Vida Peskay, Mary Beth
Solheim
Early Childhood to Elementary
Social Skills
 Demonstrates safety
awareness
 Demonstrates age
appropriate play
skills
 Engages in a variety
of play skills
 Demonstrates ability
to share
 Demonstrates
preferred playmates
 Stays engaged in
noninterest activities
 Manages frustration
appropriately
 Demonstrates
understanding of
basic emotions
(happy, sad, mad)
 Knows how to get
help
Communication Skills
 Demonstrates joint
attention
 Makes choices
 Knows names of
peers
 Greets familiar
people
 Initiates social
interactions with
peers and adults
 Labels own
emotions
 Labels other’s
emotions
 Takes another’s
perspective in a
situation
Classroom Skills
 Demonstrates
imitation skills
 Transitions easily
from one situation
to another
 Independently starts
tasks
 Stays on task
 Follows a visual
schedule
 Appropriately gets
help with classroom
tasks
 Tolerates large
group activities
 Participates in a
variety of group
learning
experiences (pace,
size, and/or length)
 Understands turn
taking in groups
 Tolerates other
people being first
 Identifies own
sensory needs
Self-Help Skills
 Identifies basic
sensory states
(hunger, tired)
 Independently uses
the toilet
 Eats independently
using utensils
 Brushes own teeth
 Washes own hands
and face
 Knows to wash
hands and/or face
when dirty
 Dresses self
 Takes off and puts
on own outer
clothes
 Takes care of own
materials
Elementary to Junior High
Social Skills
Communication Skills
 Engages in play other
 Labels own
than recess
emotions and has
appropriate
 Demonstrates
strategies to
understanding of
resolve the
emotions beyond basics
situation
(happy, sad, mad)
 Knows appropriate staff  Uses pragmatic
language
& their roles
 Demonstrates
 Tolerates day to day
social pragmatics
changes
 Reads facial
 Demonstrates
expressions
awareness of socially
appropriate behavior
 Uses age
appropriate slang
 Demonstrates
awareness of fashion
 Handles teasing
and play/ leisure trends
appropriately
 Knows when being
 Labels emotions
bullied or teased and
beyond basics
reports appropriately
(mad, happy, sad)
 Demonstrates basic
 Demonstrates
understanding of
difference between
disability
peer and teacher
greetings
 Has emerging selfadvocacy skills
 Greets familiar
peers around the
 Developing interest
building
areas similar to peers

Takes turns in
 Demonstrates
conversations
appropriate touch and
physical boundaries
 Maintains topic in
with peers
a conversation
 Has friends to sit with at  Maintains
lunch and play with at
another’s topic in a
recess
conversation
 Has leisure skills
 Attends to relevant
outside of school
detail
 Responsible for own
materials
 Demonstrates age
appropriate skills in
cooperative activities/
play
 Understands the
difference between
things you talk about in
private versus public
Classroom Skills
 Demonstrates
basic
organizational
skills
 Completes
teacher directed
sequences
 Awareness of
work completion
and timelines
 Completes
homework
 Demonstrates
knowledge of
quality work
 Moves around
the building
independently
 Appropriately
uses the library
 Appropriately
accesses
strategies to meet
sensory needs
Self-Help Skills
 Gets own lunch,
finds seat and eats
 Finds own
materials from
another’s
 Knows how to get
permission to go to
bathroom
 Leaves room and
independently goes
to the bathroom
 Independently
bathes self
 Combs and brushes
own hair
 Demonstrates
knowledge of
personal
information
 Uses the phone and
phone book
Junior High to Senior High
Social Skills
Communication Skills
 Demonstrates awareness
 Communicates
of trends and fashions
accurately what is
happening in school
 Has developed trusting
with parents and
relationships with key
teachers
adults
 Self-advocates specific to  Understands how to
address people based
the disability
on their role (boss,
 Participates in social
teacher, friend)
activities outside of
 Understands the
school
building’s human
 Participates in groups in
rights policy
the community
 Demonstrates appropriate
use of leisure time outside
of school
 Identifies inappropriate
peer requests
 Knows of agencies
available to them outside
of school (social security,
state ID)
 Demonstrates
understanding of
differences in boy/girl
friendships
 Demonstrates
understanding of how
friendships can be
different outside of school
 Awareness of work once
senior year is finished
 Understands appropriate
sexual/relationship
behaviors
Classroom Skills
Self-Help Skills
 Organizes and
 Knows how to
completes long-term
take a bus
assignments
 Demonstrates
good hygiene
 Differentiates
expectations of
 Uses locker
multiple teachers
rooms
 Demonstrates
 Understands
organization skills
money
management
 Uses a system for
tracking
 Knows how to
assignments
keep a
checkbook
 Works in
cooperative groups
 Knows how to
on projects
fill out a job
application
 Demonstrates time
management skills
 Effectively uses a
daily planner
 Appropriately
prioritize tasks
 Follows a list to
complete sequential
tasks
Steps to Independence:
Building Life Skills for Children with ASD
Developed by Metro SPLISE: West Metro Autism Network
September 2001
The Metro SPLISE West Metro Autism Network, comprised of 14 school districts, with
input from all team members representing Early Childhood to Transition Plus, identified
essential skills for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. This tool is not meant to be
all-inclusive, or to be used in isolation. Rather, this tool is meant to help teams plan
effective interventions for future environments. It is recognized that some of the identified
skills will be very challenging for some of our students with Autism Spectrum Disorders.
While the skills are listed generally in a chronological order, this tool is not necessarily
meant as a developmental list, but rather essential skills for different educational settings.
The intent of identifying these as survival skills is to focus family and staff attention on
future needs for appropriate educational planning.
Ratings:
1 Doesn’t perform
2 Does inconsistently and/or needs prompts
3 Performs independently in familiar environments
4 Generalized across environments
Special consideration to the committee who compiled and organized the information: Laura Collins,
Laura Flaherty, Sarah Kyrklund, Sarah Lund, Kathy Patton, Michele Suedbeck, Vida Peskay, Mary Beth
Solheim
Early Childhood to Elementary
Social Skills
 Demonstrates safety
awareness
 Demonstrates age
appropriate play
skills
 Engages in a variety
of play skills
 Demonstrates ability
to share
 Demonstrates
preferred playmates
 Stays engaged in
noninterest activities
 Manages frustration
appropriately
 Demonstrates
understanding of
basic emotions
(happy, sad, mad)
 Knows how to get
help
Communication Skills
 Demonstrates joint
attention
 Makes choices
 Knows names of
peers
 Greets familiar
people
 Initiates social
interactions with
peers and adults
 Labels own
emotions
 Labels other’s
emotions
 Takes another’s
perspective in a
situation
Classroom Skills
 Demonstrates
imitation skills
 Transitions easily
from one situation
to another
 Independently starts
tasks
 Stays on task
 Follows a visual
schedule
 Appropriately gets
help with classroom
tasks
 Tolerates large
group activities
 Participates in a
variety of group
learning
experiences (pace,
size, and/or length)
 Understands turn
taking in groups
 Tolerates other
people being first
 Identifies own
sensory needs
Self-Help Skills
 Identifies basic
sensory states
(hunger, tired)
 Independently uses
the toilet
 Eats independently
using utensils
 Brushes own teeth
 Washes own hands
and face
 Knows to wash
hands and/or face
when dirty
 Dresses self
 Takes off and puts
on own outer
clothes
 Takes care of own
materials
Elementary to Junior High
Social Skills
Communication Skills
 Engages in play other
 Labels own
than recess
emotions and has
appropriate
 Demonstrates
strategies to
understanding of
resolve the
emotions beyond basics
situation
(happy, sad, mad)
 Knows appropriate staff  Uses pragmatic
language
& their roles
 Demonstrates
 Tolerates day to day
social pragmatics
changes
 Reads facial
 Demonstrates
expressions
awareness of socially
appropriate behavior
 Uses age
appropriate slang
 Demonstrates
awareness of fashion
 Handles teasing
and play/ leisure trends
appropriately
 Knows when being
 Labels emotions
bullied or teased and
beyond basics
reports appropriately
(mad, happy, sad)
 Demonstrates basic
 Demonstrates
understanding of
difference between
disability
peer and teacher
greetings
 Has emerging selfadvocacy skills
 Greets familiar
peers around the
 Developing interest
building
areas similar to peers

Takes turns in
 Demonstrates
conversations
appropriate touch and
physical boundaries
 Maintains topic in
with peers
a conversation
 Has friends to sit with at  Maintains
lunch and play with at
another’s topic in a
recess
conversation
 Has leisure skills
 Attends to relevant
outside of school
detail
 Responsible for own
materials
 Demonstrates age
appropriate skills in
cooperative activities/
play
 Understands the
difference between
things you talk about in
private versus public
Classroom Skills
 Demonstrates
basic
organizational
skills
 Completes
teacher directed
sequences
 Awareness of
work completion
and timelines
 Completes
homework
 Demonstrates
knowledge of
quality work
 Moves around
the building
independently
 Appropriately
uses the library
 Appropriately
accesses
strategies to meet
sensory needs
Self-Help Skills
 Gets own lunch,
finds seat and eats
 Finds own
materials from
another’s
 Knows how to get
permission to go to
bathroom
 Leaves room and
independently goes
to the bathroom
 Independently
bathes self
 Combs and brushes
own hair
 Demonstrates
knowledge of
personal
information
 Uses the phone and
phone book
Junior High to Senior High
Social Skills
Self-Help Skills













Communication
Classroom Skills
Skills
Demonstrates
 Communicates
 Organizes and
awareness of trends and
accurately what is
completes longfashions
happening in
term assignments
school with
Has developed trusting
 Differentiates
parents and
relationships with key
expectations of
teachers
adults
multiple teachers
 Understands how
Self-advocates specific
 Demonstrates
to address people
to the disability
organization
based on their
skills
Participates in social
role
(boss,
activities outside of
 Uses a system for
teacher, friend)
school
tracking
assignments
Participates in groups in  Understands the
building’s human
the community
 Works in
rights policy
cooperative
Demonstrates
groups on
appropriate use of
projects
leisure time outside of
school
 Demonstrates
time
Identifies inappropriate
management
peer requests
skills
Knows of agencies
 Effectively uses a
available to them
daily planner
outside of school
(social security, state
 Appropriately
ID)
prioritize tasks
Demonstrates
 Follows a list to
understanding of
complete
differences in boy/girl
sequential tasks
friendships
Demonstrates
understanding of how
friendships can be
different outside of
school
Awareness of work
once senior year is
finished
Understands
appropriate
sexual/relationship
behaviors





Knows how to take a
bus
Demonstrates good
hygiene
Uses locker rooms
Understands money
management
Knows how to keep
a checkbook
Knows how to fill
out a job application