Are you searching for fun activities for autistic adults to establish a new routine, promote sensory and processing abilities, and learn life skills?
If the answer’s yes, then this guide is for you.
Encouraging adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) to engage in educational, recreational, and social activities will have lasting benefits. In other words, these activities aim to help autistic adults lead a whole and more fulfilling life.
So, for those interested in learning specific autism-friendly activities, make sure you check below.
Why Activities and Hobbies are Important
To maintain overall physical and mental wellness, you need to have adequate activities and hobbies. That applies to all people.
Through music, dancing, cooking, and even walking, autistic adults will experience an increased quality of life. It’s important to know that activities don’t stop at a certain age. On the contrary, they should be constantly promoted.
Hence, through activities, autistic adults will have a chance to:
Improve communication skills
Increase independence
Feel joy and fulfillment
Promote fine motor skills
Feel accepted as a member of the community
However, it's crucial to plan all activities according to the interests, abilities, and strengths of the adult. So, let’s jump to it.
5 Fun but Practical Activities for Autistic Adults
1. Music Classes
Music is a broad medium that surpasses all abilities and disabilities. And considering that sound, or, in this case, music, is a primary human response, many autistic adults have a positive reaction to it.
Through music activities – repeating particular rhythmic patterns, repeating the melody, trying to remember a song, and eventually playing an instrument with or without someone – you’ll address behavioral, sensory-motor, social, communicative, physical, psychological, and cognitive functioning.
What's great about music is that you can adapt all the activities related to it to meet the needs of each individual since sound is flexible and malleable.
The most common musical instruments used for autism are percussion instruments, ukulele, keyboard/piano, and guitar.
2. Dance Classes
The aim of each dance is to raise awareness of body movement so that you can communicate through that movement. Note that the only universal language is the one transmitted through our bodies and moving patterns.
Therefore, your goal is to join the moving pattern of the autistic individual through dance therapy or any dance-related activities so you can then modify, improve and grow that pattern. In other words, you’re communicating with them by moving with them.
And, there’s no need to say that you’re improving sensory-motor skills, or in other words, increasing body awareness in the process.
3. Arts and Crafts
A great tool for nonverbal expression is art. Painting, drawing, building, assembling, sculpting, and writing are therapeutic, calming, and, most of all, fun.
Autistic adults will have the opportunity to explore different mediums and learn how to express themselves by using those mediums. Art and autism complete each other, and by creating any piece of art, the person will improve his motor skills, increase self-esteem, develop social skills, and fulfill sensory needs.
Here are some fun arts and crafts ideas:
Finger painting
Sensory bottles
Bubble wrap abstract painting
Sand art projects
4. Outdoor Activities/Sports
You don’t have to go to fancy gyms or sports halls; a simple walk in the park or the neighborhood can also do wonders for adults.
Spending time outdoors is healthy for both the mind and body, so it’s crucial to have regular outdoor recreational activities (adapted to the person's abilities). It’ll improve the person’s mood and help improve their attention span and motor skills.
All the following activities are a great way to spend time with the autistic adult in your life:
Walking
Swimming
Hiking
Horseback riding
Biking
Fishing
Camping
Gardening
If we’re talking about a group of autistic adults, you can prepare simple obstacle games. They would need to interact with each other and be active all the time during the activity.
5. Cooking
Cooking activities are not only fun, interactive, and great for bonding but also essential for life in general.
Learning how to cook is fundamental to life. And, when you’re preparing the food together, you’re giving the autistic adult a sense of teamwork and connection.
Before you start cooking or baking, make sure you’ve got the right recipe. Choose according to the autistic individual because they can be quite picky when it comes to the smell and texture of the food.
Easy and quick meals would be:
Pancakes
Gluten-free pizzas
Smoothies
Sandwiches
Homemade chicken nuggets
Sugar-free blueberry muffins
Conclusion
Helping autistic adults learn new challenges and skills is not an easy task, but through certain activities, the process of learning can become, if not easier, more fun.
The most important thing is to create a safe and supportive environment where autistic individuals have the freedom to engage. Try various activities, be creative, and pay attention to what the autistic adult finds most pleasing. And most of all, enjoy!
Let me know if you try any of these activities for autistic adults, and if you have more interesting ideas, don't hesitate to share them with me.
Holiday Sensory Play Ideas for Children with Autism
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Christmas is almost here and winter is upon us! I love the magical feeling of this time of year! I love driving around town and looking at the Christmas lights up around the neighborhood. Now, I don't always love the cold weather here in Iowa, and I love finding fun activities to complete inside where I can stay warm!
Our family loves finding fun ways to incorporate sensory play based activities. I wanted to share with you some great Holiday sensory play based ideas that you can complete together inside! These are great ideas to help your loved one experience new tactile sensory experiences!
Check out these Fun Holiday Sensory Bin Play Ideas!
Sensory Bins can be a great way to expose your child to new tactile feelings on their hands and you can make them educational as well! You can hid different objects inside the bins and work on counting, color sorting, size sorting, or have them close their eyes and try to identify what they found with their eyes closed! There are endless opportunities for ways to play with sensory bins!!
Check out these AWESOME Slime and Playdough Recipes!!
I personally love to play with different textures of play dough and slime! It can be so soothing for some. You can incorporate fine motor skills with working on finding small objects within the play dough or slime and work on using a pincer grasp with finding the objects inside the slime. You can have the child work on hand strength by gripping, squishing and pinching the slime. They could use cookie cutters to push into the slime or play dough to form new shapes. This is another great activity to help with tactile sensory play ideas!
Are you looking for more Holiday Sensory Ideas?
Check out our FREE Printable about Holiday Sensory Ideas!!
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We would love to hear what sensory play ideas you like to complete inside over the winter months!! What are your favorites?
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Awesome Lego Sets
In our family we take legos very seriously! We love putting together amazing Lego sets! My brother loves following the step by step directions to allow him to build amazing architecture pieces! These Lego sets can be a great activity for your teen to complete on rainy/cold days inside or as part of the whole family! These are great options as ways to help them take breaks away from screen time and allow them the use creativity and learn step by step processes.
Below is a combined list of Lego Sets that my brother has loved putting together and we wanted to share them with you in hopes that it will inspire you to create your own Lego Creation!
The Chicago Skyline has been a fun set to put together as we are from the Midwest area and we have traveled to Chicago multiple times as a family. We have been able to personally see these structures in person!
My brother loves learning more about our US history in his homeschooling lessons and then he loves being able to create the items he has been learning about in person!
My brother has loved creating his own in person Minecraft set through tons of LEGO sets!! This is a fun set to put together as it represents the cave setting in Minecraft.
This Star Wars set is huge!! It was so much fun to put together, but it looks AMAZING put together!! You won't want to miss this set if you are a Star Wars Fan!!
The LEGO Winter Toy Shop is a great option if you are looking for ways to have your teen help you decorate for the Holidays! They can participate with putting this set together and then enjoy this set throughout the Holiday Season!
This Modern home set was fun to put together as we love learning about different houses and how they are formed. My brother and I love playing the Sims together and his was a great LEGO set to be able to build a house together in person with!
These were some of my brother's favorite LEGO sets to put together and we hope you find fun and enjoyment with them as well! We would love to hear what LEGO sets are your favorites! Let us know in the comments below!!
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This is an educational blog designed to help families how to teach children with autism life skills to help them learn to be independent as they transition into adulthood.
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