Dressing
37CHAPTER
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Children with disabilities, like other children, should be encouraged from an early
age to help with their own dressing. It is important, however, not to push a child to
learn skills that are still too difficult for her level of development.
AVERAGE AGE WHEN NON-DISABLED CHILDREN DEVELOP DRESSING SKILLS
under 1
year old
Baby does
not help
at all.
1 year old
Cooperates
when being
dressed.
2 years old
Removes loose
clothing.
3 years old
Puts on loose
clothing.
4 years old
Buttons
large buttons
5 years old
Dresses alone
except for
difficult
steps.
6 years old
Ties shoe
or adjusts
sandals.
Children may learn dressing skills at different ages depending on local customs
and on how much importance parents give to learning these skills. Observe what
other children in your village can do at different ages. Children may begin to take off
their clothes before they are 2 years old, yet may not learn to put on all their clothes
correctly until they are 5 or 6 years old. Often a normal 6-year-old may put a shirt on
backward, or the left sandal on the right foot.
Children who are slow in their development or who have difficulty with movements
may be slower to learn dressing skills. It may seem quicker and easier for someone to
simply put the clothes on her, without interacting with the child. However, this will only
delay the child’s development more.
It is important to use dressing as an opportunity to help the child develop in many
areas at once: awareness, balance, movement, and even language.
As you dress the child, talk to her. Help her learn her body parts, the names of
clothes, and the way these relate: “The arm
goes into the sleeve,” “The foot goes into the
pants,” and so on. This will help the child begin
to learn language and connect parts of her
body to her actions and things around her.
Helping the child gain dressing skills takes
time and patience. Let her try to do as much
as she can for herself. Be ready to help if
it gets too difficult, but only as much as is
needed. It is not good to frustrate the child
so much that she will not want to try again.
Be sure the task is not too advanced for the
child’s level of development.