Getting chores done is an important part of life and our responsibility to keep our homes clean and organized. You can make chores more fun by listening to music, a podcast or a video you enjoy.

If you are not sure how to do something, ask for help. Setting up places to keep specific kinds of things can make it easier to find things and keep your room or home clean.

If you are living with your family or a roommate it is helpful to have regular tasks that each person does. Make sure you are clear on what they expect from you and discuss how you will take care of the things on your list.

It can be frustrating if someone doesn’t do something you thought they would. Or they may get irritated if they think you didn’t do something they thought you would. Talk politely to each other about the issues and do your best. It can be helpful to have a list or chart of who does what.

Ask for help if you are not sure how to do something.

Learn why typical chores are important for safety to help you prioritize them. For example, cleaning the bathroom regularly prevents mold, keeps things from needing to be repaired as often and helps us avoid getting an infection.

Organize your things in different areas of your room or home so you keep similar things in a particular place. This way when you put things away everything is together and you can find things easily. You can use inexpensive plastic bins or carts to store pens/pencils, tools and keys for example.

If you don’t know how to do your laundry yet, start by sorting dirty clothes by darks, whites, towels and sheets & pillow cases. Learn how to use your washer and dryer, understanding that each type is likely to be a bit different in the labels, dials or push buttons it has. Make sure to remove lint from the dryer after each load.

If you haven’t yet, learn about grocery shopping. Ask your family how to

• Decide where to do your grocery shoppiing
• Tips for saving money
• How to pick out food at the store to make healthy meals and snacks.

Adding things you need to a grocery list in a list app on your phone or on a piece of paper clipped to your fridge makes it easy to see what you need when you’re at the store. Putting your groceries away in an organized way will help you find things. You could set up shelves in your pantry with labels for foods you like for snacks and different meals.

A Note to Families Whose Loved One Is More Impacted

Learning how to do chores teaches organizational and other critical life skills. These steps build to what a person needs to reach their full potential, feel a sense of competence and capability, and live in the appropriate housing setting for their needs.

Based on your loved one’s age and developmental level, start small with a task with simple steps and then build on that. Be aware that autistic individuals may not transfer a task in one setting to another, so explaining and watching for signs of understanding can be helpful. Before you do the next step, ask your loved one what comes next.

If your loved one is having a hard time learning a skill for doing a chore, you can try giving them step by step visuals that show each step of what to do in order. Or you could start with what it will look like when it’s done, and the steps for how it got that way in backwards order. You may hear a professional call this forward or backwards chaining.

Take a picture of the step by step list that you could make a laminated visual checklist or make a flip book that they can flip through. You could attach a dry erase pen with velcro. Or find a short video online of the task for them to watch to learn the steps, which professionals call video modeling. The Milestones Visual Supports Tool Kit features related information and resources.

Give your loved one manageable tasks they can master to move up to the next level task. It’s vital to be able to handle daily housekeeping activities and learn organizational skills in order to gain independence.