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The activities of daily living, or ADLs, are basic self-care tasks that healthy people and children of the right age can do by themselves. Normal ADLs include:
There are many other activities that children and adults do every day that aren’t included in this list, since ADLs describe a minimum level of ability that someone needs to survive on their own. The number of ADLs someone needs help with is one way of measuring how severe their disability is.
Studies have found that disabled people are more likely to need help with some of these activities than with others. For instance, some need more help with bathing and dressing, while others are able to eat and move around on their own.
Your child might have difficulty with daily living activities if they are unable to do one or more of the ADLs listed above. It is normal for infants and young children to need a adult’s help with some or all of these activities, so this list only applies to children who would normally be expected to do these tasks on their own.
Depending on your child’s condition, some of these activities might be hard or impossible for them to do without help.
As a parent, guardian, or caretaker, you will probably be the first person to notice that your child has difficulty with daily living activities. Usually, your child’s doctor will ask you questions about each of the five major ADLs (bathing, dressing, toileting, transferring, and eating) to make a diagnosis.
Many times, difficulty with daily living activities is the expected result of an illness, injury, disease, disability, or other condition. In these cases, your doctor will probably be able to tell you ahead of time if your child will have problems doing some or all of these ADLs. For instance, children with muscular dystrophy can eventually need a wheelchair to get around, and won’t be able to do some of the ADLs.
Causes and Effects
Almost any condition, if it’s serious enough, can stop your child from doing one or more of the activities of everyday life. Many injuries, illnesses, diseases, and other conditions can cause difficulty with daily living activities. Sometimes, this is temporary, as in the case of a bone fracture that stops your child from being able to get dressed on their own until the bone is healed. Other times, the difficulty is part of a permanent disability like cerebral palsy. Underlying conditions can cause many symptoms that can lead to difficulty with daily living activities. For instance, if your child has a chronic pain condition, it might hurt too much for them to get out of bed in the morning.
Treatments
There are two areas of treatment for children who have difficulty with daily living activities. One approach is to treat the condition that is causing the difficulty with ADLs. For instance, if your child has a temporary illness that is making it hard for them to move around the house, treating that disease can fix the problem. You can also adjust the environment, such as moving the child’s bed to the ground floor so they don’t have to use stairs, making it easier to get around.
Much of the time, however, difficulty with daily living activities results from a permanent or progressive disability (one that gets worse over time). In these cases, treatment is focused on improving your child’s quality of life. Your child’s doctor can give you instructions on how to care for your child and help them complete these ADLs. For children with severe disabilities, you might need to hire a caregiver or home health aide who can help you some or all the time.
Additional Services
At school, your child who has difficulty with self-care will probably qualify for additional help and accommodations provided by the rules and regulations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Talk to your child’s teacher or school administrators to learn more.