Many parents and teachers may not be prepared for this particular learning difficulty because most of us don’t have this problem. But it’s common for children with autism.

Imagine this scenario:

Jamie learns to read words using flash cards. She makes wonderful progress, and Mom and Dad are so proud of her.

One day, Mom decides to ask Jamie to read some of the words in a story book they are reading together. She is completely befuddled to find that Jamie cannot read the very same words from the book that she read on the flash cards.

Mom doesn’t yet know this, but Jamie is having trouble generalizing new skills. This means it’s hard for her to apply what she has learned in one situation to another.

For Jamie and many other children with autism, difficulty generalizing skills can and often will happen with just about anything they try to learn.

If Jamie learns to count money at home, she may be unable to count money at the store when she wants to buy something. If she learns to count on an abacus, she might not know how to count other objects.

If Mom teaches her to greet her friends in the neighborhood by saying hello, Jamie might not realize she is supposed to greet people at school or at church in the same way.

What can we do to help our kids generalize what they learn?

The good news is that the answer to this problem is simple. And there are different ways to help our kids with generalizing skills, depending on the child and the situation. Just click or touch the link at the end of this message to learn more.

Warm Regards,


Kay Donato