Building Independence: A Monthly Insight into Functional Living Skills Assessment and Growth

Abstract

This capstone project explores the implementation and educational value of the Assessment of Functional Living Skills (AFLS) as a tool for promoting independence in students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The AFLS are assessment protocols that are designed to give educators insight into a learner’s skill level within a specific domain. There are six AFLS domains: Basic Living Skills, Home Skills, Community Participation, School Skills, Independent Living, and Vocational skills, with each covering domain specific skills while having overarching goals. Learners need these skills if they want to be successful at home, in the community, and during employment, and these skill areas will be used to support the transition of students into more independent adult lives. This project included monthly newsletters focused on the six AFLS domains that are used to inform families of instructional strategies and supporting skills that are necessary to prepare learners for post-secondary life. These newsletters emphasized the importance of individualized instruction, task analysis, prompting strategies, and reinforcement strategies to support the learning of functional skills. The project also outlined the importance of consistent and structured exposure to functional skill instruction when developing deficit areas. The newsletters promote active family involvement, which can significantly enhance student outcomes in independence and quality of life