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4.1.0 Hygiene/Personal Needs |
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Louisiana Statewide Transition Project and Louisiana: Healthy and Ready to Work Fact Sheet Series |
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7/28/99 |
I. WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
There are basic hygiene practices that everyone
should follow. Everyone needs a bath, clean and neat hair and nails, clean
teeth, etc. However, when young adults have disabilities, ensuring proper
hygiene may become more complex. Issues related to a disability could make
attending to their own hygiene and/or personal needs difficult or impossible
for some young adults. Nevertheless, proper personal hygiene is critical to
virtually all aspects of life, including employment opportunities,
relationships, and other important areas in a person's life.
II. KEY POINTS
Routine Personal Hygiene
People always feel better when they look
their best. In order to do so, daily bathing is necessary. For young adults who
have difficulty bathing, there are many adaptive devices that can make bathing
easier. These include grab bars, transfer seats, shower chairs, handheld
nozzles, and so on. In addition to a clean body, young adults should have clean
hair. Clean hair enhances a person's appearance. A simple haircut and styling
can make it much easier to maintain a well-groomed look.
Good oral health is also important to total
health. Unfortunately, children and young adults with disabilities have an
increased risk of dental problems, including dental disease. Many dental
problems can be prevented by good daily oral hygiene practices. A routine that
includes brushing teeth at least twice a day and flossing is necessary to
maintain strong teeth and gums. For more information on dental care, see the
fact sheet 4.1.2 Dental Care.
Taking Responsibility
As with any other area relating to the transition
to adulthood, young adults should begin taking on more of the responsibility
associated with their hygiene and personal needs. By the time the reach
adulthood, young adults should know how to either carryout personal hygiene
tasks themselves or how to direct someone else to do them. Family members,
teachers, and other service providers can help young adults identify and/or
learn how to use adapted equipment for hygiene and personal needs. They can
also help young adults find and train others, including Personal Care
Attendants (PCAs), to carry out these tasks for them. For more information on
PCAs, see the fact sheet entitled 4.2.0 Personal Care Attendants.
Directing Care and Asking for Assistance
Sometimes issues resulting from a disability
make young adults require assistance with hygiene and personal needs. Virtually
every person depends on others to assist and/or support them in at least some
daily tasks. Moreover, doing a task oneself is not always the most efficient
way of achieving goals. By knowing how to direct their own care, young adults
can exercise more control over their lives. Moreover, by knowing how to direct
their own care, as opposed to doing the tasks themselves, young adults can take
an active role in working towards their goals, calling on the assistance and/or
support of others when needed in order to help attain these goals. Remember, in
reality, very few people are truly independent. For more information on
directing care, see the fact sheet 4.1.1 Directing Care & Asking for Assistance.
III. ROLES/NEXT STEPS
Student/Young Adults:
Young adults must take responsibility for
ensuring that they are properly groomed each day. Remember, it is not necessary
for young adults to be able to carryout each task themselves. They may direct
someone else who completes the task for them.
Young adults should learn about adapted
equipment that can help make attending to hygiene and personal needs easier. If
needed, young adults can ask that identification of equipment and instruction
in its use be included in the Transition Services page of the Individualized
Education Program (IEP).
Self-advocacy and self-determination skills
can be very helpful when others provide assistance or support with hygiene and
personal needs. Young adults must learn how to articulate what they want and/or
need and also know how to advocate for themselves to get it. By learning and
practicing self-advocacy and self-determination skills while still in high
school, young adults can gain the experience needed to exercise maximum control
over their lives, thus ensuring their personal hygiene needs are met.
Families:
While their sons/daughters are adolescents,
family members should encourage them to take responsibility for their hygiene
and personal needs. It is important that families let young adults make
decisions about their hygiene and personal needs, including anything from
selecting a hairstyle to choosing a Personal Care Attendant (PCA). By
supporting young adults when making these decisions, families can help assure
that young adults can take responsibility for themselves.
Parents and other family members are role
models for young adults. They must remember that their actions (or lack of
action) will have an influence on how their sons/daughters conducts themselves.
Therefore, families must set a good example by having good hygiene practices
themselves!
Agencies:
Local education agencies (LEAs) should make
sure that hygiene and personal needs are addressed during transition planning
for all students. Good personal hygiene can make the difference when seeking
employment, relationships, and other important areas of adult life, and
therefore must not be overlooked.
LEAs and other service providers can help
young adults identify adapted equipment that can help make attending to hygiene
and personal needs easier. If needed, they can also help young adults learn how
to use the equipment.
IV. RESOURCES/CONTACTS
Children's Special Health Services
Acadian Region: 504-265-5816
Capitol Region: 225-342-4713
Central Region: 318-487-5266
Northeast Region: 318-362-5486
Northwest Region: 318-676-7488
Southeast Region: 504-222-4593
Southwest Region: 318-475-8742
Teche Region: 318-447-0896
Families Helping Families Regional Offices
Acadiana: 800-378-9854
Bayouland: 800-331-5571
At the Crossroads: 800-259-7200
Greater Baton Rouge: 888-511-5299
Greater New Orleans: 800-766-7736
Northeast LA: 888-300-1320
Northshore: 800-383-8700
Northwest LA: 888-989-0315
Southwest LA: 800-894-6558
V. REFERENCES
Bowe,
Frank. (1978). Handicapping America. New York, NY: Harper and Row,
Publishers.
Lutkenhoff,
M. & Oppenheimer, S. (Eds.) (1997). SPINAbilities: A Young Person's
Guide to Spina Bifida. Bethesda, MD: Woodbine House.
Marx, L. (1974). Keep Trying. New
York, NY: Harper and Row, Publishers.
Trull, Patti. (1983). On With My Life.
New York, NY: G.P. Putnam's Sons.