Dressing Skills

When should I choose this Area of Focus for my Gabadoo?

Dressing skills requires fine and gross motor skills, motor planning and sequencing, body awareness, spatial awareness and attention. So there are many reasons why your child or teenager could be struggling with an aspect of dressing skills and completing a Gabadoo can really help!

What kinds of tasks relate to Dressing Skills:

Dressing skills relates to dressing and undressing all items of clothing including fastening buttons, zips, bras, belts and laces. If your child or teenager is finding an aspect of dressing difficulty due to any reason, our team of experts can help find ways to support their independence.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

There is a separate area of focus for fine motor skills so if you are looking for guidance around other fine motor skills, please refer to this blog post to see if it is more appropriate. You might also benefit from doing two separate reviews to focus on two different areas.

What information do I need to include in my Gabadoo?

As our Gabadoo Team have never met your family before and know nothing about your child, they can only provide strategies based on the information you provide so be very detailed!

After you have filled in the relevant information in your Gabadoo, go through this checklist to make sure you have included the following:

Family & Home Life:

Your daily routine including school hours, drop offs, child-care and free time in the evening and at the weekends so our team provide activities that are achievable for your routine.

Strengths and Interests:

What does your child like to do?

What games, toys, T.V. programs, characters do they like?

What motivates them?

Do they respond to praise from adults?

Additional Information:

What class is your child in at school?

What type of schooling do they receive? i.e. homeschooling, mainstream N.S., gaelscoil, preschool, ASD class, Special School.

Have you seen any professionals in the past in relation to supporting dressing skills? Or has your child ever had a medical review because of their fine motor skills?(i.e. arthritis, hypermobility, fractures). If so, what was the outcome?

What have you tried before to work on their dressing skills? e.g. previous intervention, specific laces, videos, toys etc.

Make sure to include:

What skills you would like support around (e.g. laces) and what level is your child at with this skill?

What would you like to gain from this Gabadoo?

List your observations in relation to this skill include details like how your child reacts to dressing or undressing, does certain fabrics annoy them, what part of the skill they find challenging and if you have practiced this before with them.

Next include videos and images of your child completing relevant dressing tasks (don't include videos or images of your child fully undressed)

A video clip that shows your child clearly practicing each of the dressing skils from different angles. If you are filming a more detailed skill like tying laces or buttoning, please hold the camera closer to your child's hands for one of the clips.

Remember: The more information you give our team, the more individualised and relevant your plan will be.

What support will I receive for my child?

Your information will be reviewed by one of our Gabadoo Experts who is experienced in the area of 'dressing skills'. They will detail individualised strategies, activities, next steps and helpful organisations and products that you can use at home to develop your child's skills.