Activities of Daily Living: Change the World By Making Your Bed? Activities of daily living may seem like a small thing. But it’s the small things that make the biggest difference. Small Decisions Made Me Get Behind I’ve gotten behind in writing posts for this blog. It started when I was training for another Chicago Marathon. This year it was toward the beginning of October. I started telling myself, “I’ve got so much training to do, I’ve got this to do, and I’ve got that to do.” And now it’s been about three weeks since my last podcast episode or blog post! “How will I ever get back into the groove?,” I ask myself. It starts by sitting down at the computer and starting to type: a small action. Making Your Bed: An Illustration It’s the small things. Here’s an inspirational video of a speech by Admiral William McCraven. It’s called, “Changing the World By Making Your Bed.” I believe all of us, both spectrum and non-spectrum, can improve our quality of living by learning about activites of daily living. What Are Activities of Daily Living? For a full discussion of activities of daily living, check out the Wikipedia Article. Activities of daily living is a concept proposed in the 1950s by a research team at the Benjamin Rose Hospital in Cleveland, OH. In her article, The Twenty Something Free Fall, Deborah Rudacille outlines the challenge many high school autistics face when they leave high school and try to transition to a more independent adult life. Often, there are many skills that were done for the high schooler.  Parents are often guilty of having difficulty “letting go,” or teaching their kids to do things on their own. Authors Mlinac and Feng define activities of daily living as outlined below: Michelle E. Mlinac, Michelle C. Feng; Assessment of Activities of Daily Living, Self-Care, and Independence, Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, Volume 31, Issue 6, 1 September 2016, Pages 506–516, https://doi.org/10.1093/arclin/acw049 Activities of daily living (ADLs), often termed physical ADLs or basic ADLs, include the fundamental skills typically needed to manage basic physical needs, comprised the following areas: grooming/personal hygiene, dressing, toileting/continence, transferring/ambulating, and eating. These functional skills are mastered early in life and are relatively more preserved in light of declined cognitive functioning when compared to higher level tasks. Basic ADLs are generally categorized separately from Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs), which include more complex activities related to independent living in the community (e.g., managing finances and medications). IADL performance is sensitive to early cognitive decline, whereas physical functioning is often a significant driver of basic ADL ability (Boyle, Cohen, Paul, Moser, & Gordon, 2002; Cahn-Weiner et al., 2007). Why Can Activities of Daily Living Be Difficult on the Autism Spectrum? I found this informal poll at WrongPlanet, asking whether autism/Aspergers members have difficulty with basic or instrumental activities of daily living. Almost 100 people responded.  7% said they did not have any trouble.