Vocational Skills Checklist for Early Intervention

Choose natural routines such as clean-up, snack, arrival, or dressing that allow repeated practice of following directions, waiting, and completing simple tasks. This supports routine-based instruction and connects directly to IEP goals for adaptive behavior, attention, and participation.

Use activities like putting toys in a bin, wiping a table, or delivering napkins so the child learns task completion. Break the task into visual or verbal steps, document prompt levels, and align to IEP goals for task persistence and adaptive functioning.

Many early workplace readiness skills begin with attending to another person's direction for brief periods. Use evidence-based practices such as prompting, reinforcement, and visual supports to increase engagement during short structured tasks for children with autism, intellectual disability, or other developmental delays.

Turn-taking in block play, pretend kitchen play, or sensory routines develops impulse control and flexible responding. This supports IEP goals related to social-emotional regulation and executive functioning, especially for children receiving services for developmental delay or other health impairment.

Assign one consistent clean-up action, such as returning books to a basket or placing cups in the sink, to build responsibility and independence. Use first-then language, picture cues, or adapted containers as accommodations for children with motor, language, or cognitive needs.

Smooth transitions are essential for later classroom and community participation. Use countdowns, visual schedules, transition objects, and predictable language to support IEP goals for self-regulation and participation in natural environments.

Requesting help, materials, or a turn is an early vocational communication skill. Embed opportunities in snack, art, sensory play, and dressing routines, and match supports to the child's communication system, including gestures, signs, AAC, or single words in the IEP.

Children benefit from generalizing skills across teachers, therapists, and caregivers rather than responding only to one familiar adult. This is especially important for children with autism spectrum disorder and supports IEP goals for generalization and participation across settings.

Simple social routines such as waving, saying hello, or making eye contact create the basis for future workplace social expectations. Use modeling, peer supports, and visual cue cards as accommodations for children with speech-language or social communication needs.

Teach the child to signal 'help,' bring an item to an adult, or use a help icon on AAC when a task is hard. This reduces frustration and aligns with IEP goals for communication, self-advocacy, and reduction of challenging behavior.

Early work-readiness includes being near others, sharing space, and eventually participating in group tasks. Use embedded interventions in centers, music, and outdoor play to address social goals while maintaining developmentally appropriate practice.

Choice-making is an early self-determination skill and can be targeted through selecting toys, tools, snacks, or clean-up jobs. This fits well within UDL principles by offering multiple means of engagement and supports communication and autonomy goals.

Use jobs such as passing out napkins, pushing in chairs, watering plants, or carrying a folder to build responsibility in meaningful ways. Keep expectations simple, provide visual models, and track independence as progress monitoring data for adaptive or social IEP goals.

Dramatic play themes like grocery store, doctor's office, bakery, or pet care help children imitate adult roles and routines. For children with language delays, add labeled props, scripts, and modeling to support vocabulary and symbolic play development.

Sorting utensils, socks, toy foods, or classroom supplies builds cognitive organization and attention to task. These activities can align with IEP goals in early academics, fine motor, and adaptive behavior while resembling later vocational task structures.

Introduce child-safe tools such as scoops, spray bottles, crayons, paintbrushes, or adapted tongs to build motor planning and responsibility. Accommodations may include built-up handles, hand-over-hand support fading, or positioning supports for children with orthopedic impairment or fine motor delays.

Some children need explicit instruction to persist for 30 seconds to 2 minutes on less preferred responsibilities. Use evidence-based strategies such as high-probability request sequences, visual timers, and immediate reinforcement to increase engagement without escalating behavior.

Label shelves, bins, and centers with photos or icons so children can independently return items to the correct place. This supports visual discrimination, independence, and environmental organization, especially for children with autism or intellectual disability.

Self-care skills are strong early indicators of later independence and should be documented carefully in present levels and progress notes. Identify the exact step the child can complete, the prompts needed, and any related services such as occupational therapy that support the goal.

Goals should be observable and measurable, such as completing 3 of 5 hand-washing steps with visual cues or putting on a coat with partial physical prompts. These goals are more functional than isolated drill activities and better support family follow-through.

Break routines into small steps for children who need explicit teaching, especially those with autism, developmental delay, or multiple disabilities. Pair task analysis with prompting hierarchies and systematic fading to increase independence over time.

Use adaptive utensils, seating supports, visual schedules, or simplified clothing fasteners so the child can complete portions of the task independently. This reflects IDEA-aligned access and participation rather than over-supporting the child through the entire routine.

If a zipper sticks or a toy bin is too full, coach the child to try again, ask for help, or use another strategy. These early problem-solving behaviors are foundational to later workplace flexibility and self-regulation.

Collect data in classroom, therapy, and home contexts to determine whether the skill generalizes. This is especially valuable for annual reviews and for adjusting accommodations, modifications, or service delivery based on actual performance.

Suggest simple responsibilities such as putting clothes in a basket, carrying a spoon to the table, or helping wipe spills. Family coaching should connect to the child's IEP goals and emphasize repetition in everyday routines rather than adding separate homework.

Provide families with a short list of observable skills to monitor, such as follows one-step directions, requests help, completes a clean-up step, or waits briefly. This supports milestone tracking and helps families understand how early adaptive skills connect to long-term outcomes.

Children ages 0-5 benefit from exposure to familiar community helpers like bus drivers, cooks, mail carriers, and doctors through play-based literacy. Keep the focus on roles, tools, routines, and helping others rather than formal career instruction.

A walk to the cafeteria, front office, playground maintenance area, or nearby community setting can help children notice work roles in real life. Prepare with visuals, social narratives, and sensory accommodations for children with autism, sensory needs, or anxiety.

Speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, and developmental therapists can support the same functional outcomes using different methods. Collaboration improves consistency and strengthens documentation that services address access, participation, and measurable IEP needs.

Instead of reporting only isolated skill practice, describe how the child participates in dressing, mealtime, clean-up, or play with less support. This improves family understanding, strengthens compliance documentation, and keeps intervention centered on meaningful participation.