In the previous article, we had shared about personal hygiene and the importance of maintaining good personal hygiene for health and well-being. In this post, we will be sharing about self-grooming skills.
Self-grooming skills are a set of skills that help us to maintain a proper personal appearance. These skills include:
Maintain a clean and neat hairstyle.
Choose appropriate attire based on the events and weather.
Choose appropriate socks and shoes based on the events.
Maintain a pleasant body odour by applying deodorant or perfume.
Keep proper length and smooth nails.
Maintain a clean and neat facial and body hair.
The importance of maintaining good personal grooming skills is not only limited to the person but also give a positive impact on social interaction.
These skills become more important when our children reach to adolescent and adult age because they will be involved in different types of social interaction (formal and informal).
Ideas on how to train children in self-grooming skills:
Doll play: children can practice combing hair by using the doll hair as a tool to practice the skills. They also can learn about what to dress based on the events and weather with the doll.
Role-play: pretending as they are going to hair salon, clinic, restaurant, buying grocery or doing laundry provide opportunities for children to learn about proper attire and how to maintain good personal grooming skills.
Social story: create a social story that can help the children to learn and understand the new social behavior, good self-grooming skills.
Be consistent: providing opportunities for children to consistently practice their skills in their daily routines will help them to use the learnt skills in meaningful ways.
Modification: consult with your Occupational Therapist to understand about your child conditions. If modification of tools, environment or steps needed, discuss with the therapist to know what is the best for the children.
We might find that self-grooming skills are simple things to do but it might be hard for our children or students. Discuss with teachers and therapists to find a way on how to work together in helping the child to learn and practice self-grooming skills in different contexts.
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