Life skills IEP goals: the complete map by domain

Life skills goals are the goals a student uses every day after the bell rings: washing hands, making a snack, paying at a register, crossing a parking lot, taking medicine on time, choosing something to do on a Saturday. They belong in the IEP because the IEP covers functional performance, not only academics. Present levels must describe both, and the annual goals must address the needs that come from them.^[1]

This page maps the six life skills domains. Each domain has a short task analysis, example goals with illustrative baselines, and a link to the full templates in the library. The numbers are made up to show the format. They are not benchmarks.

How to choose a life skills goal

Start with the routine that matters most to the student and family right now, not with a checklist. A 9-year-old who needs an adult in the bathroom has a different priority than a 17-year-old who cannot yet ride the bus to a job site. Ask three questions: what does the student need to do more independently, where does it happen, and what will it cost the student if the skill does not grow this year?

Then pick the measure. Most life skills are chains of steps, so task analysis is the default. Some are single responses that come up during the day, which fit opportunity data. A few are about time, such as getting dressed within 10 minutes, which fit duration recording.

Two or three life skills goals a year is usually plenty. More than that thins out instruction, because each routine needs daily practice in the setting where it happens.

The six domains at a glance

Self-care goals

Self-care is usually first because it decides how much adult time the student needs and how much privacy the student gets. Toileting, handwashing and dressing are the big three in elementary school. Grooming and menstrual care come up in middle school.

Task analysis: handwashing

1. Turn on the water.
2. Wet both hands.
3. Get one pump of soap.
4. Rub palms, backs and between fingers for 20 seconds.
5. Rinse until no soap is left.
6. Turn off the water.
7. Take one paper towel and dry both hands.
8. Throw the towel in the trash.

Self-care goal examples

More templates are on the toileting goals and dressing goals pages, and the hygiene goals hub collects grooming routines.

Weak: "The student will improve hygiene skills."

Measurable: "After using the restroom, the student will complete 8 of 8 handwashing steps independently on 4 of 5 consecutive school days, measured with a task analysis."

Home and household goals

Household goals teach the student to contribute at home and, later, to live with less support. Cooking is the most motivating place to start, because the student eats the result. Laundry, wiping tables and loading a dishwasher are good classroom jobs that carry over to home.

Task analysis: microwave meal

1. Read or look at the picture recipe.
2. Take the meal out of the freezer.
3. Open the box and read the cook time.
4. Peel back the film corner as shown.
5. Place the meal in the microwave and close the door.
6. Enter the time from the box.
7. Press start.
8. Wait until the timer ends.
9. Use an oven mitt to take out the meal.
10. Set it on the table and stir.

Home goal examples

See cooking goals for more recipe-based routines.

Weak: "The student will learn to cook simple meals."

Measurable: "Given a picture recipe, the student will complete 9 of 10 microwave meal steps independently on 3 consecutive weekly probes."

Community goals

Community goals only work if instruction happens in the community. A pretend store in the classroom is a fine place to teach the first steps, but the goal should name a real store, cafe or bus route. That is the idea behind community-based instruction.

Task analysis: buying items from a list

1. Take a cart or basket.
2. Find the first item using aisle signs or the picture list.
3. Check the item matches the picture.
4. Repeat for each item on the list.
5. Choose a checkout line.
6. Place the items on the belt.
7. Pay using the next-dollar strategy.
8. Take the receipt and the bag.
9. Leave through the exit.

Community goal examples

The grocery shopping, money skills and public transportation hubs have more wording.

Weak: "The student will be more independent in the community."

Measurable: "At a grocery store, the student will complete 8 of 9 shopping steps independently on 3 consecutive outings."

Safety goals

Safety goals protect the student when adults are not close by. They also tend to be the goals families care about most. Pick the hazards the student actually meets: a busy pickup loop, a bolting habit, a kitchen stove, a stranger at a park.

Task analysis: crossing a parking lot

1. Stop at the curb or edge of the lot.
2. Look left, right and left again.
3. Listen for engines or reverse beeps.
4. Hold an adult's hand or walk beside the adult.
5. Walk, do not run, to the door or car.
6. Stop again at the next curb.

Safety goal examples

More templates: community safety goals, street and stranger safety, personal information and safety signs.

Weak: "The student will follow safety rules 80% of the time."

Measurable: "When walking through the parking lot, the student will stop at the curb without a prompt on 100% of opportunities across 10 consecutive school days."

Criteria for safety skills: when 80% is too low

An 80% criterion means the student gets it wrong 1 time in 5. For a spelling list, that is fine. For a parking lot, it is not. Set safety criteria at or near 100%, and add a durability check: consecutive days, more than one setting, more than one adult. While the student is learning, an adult stays close enough to step in. The criterion describes when that adult can step back, not how much risk is acceptable.

Do not let the high criterion slow instruction. Teach the skill with prompts at full speed, and keep the 100% bar for the independent probe.

Health goals

Health goals cover routines tied to a medical plan or to staying well: taking medicine, checking blood glucose, reporting pain, choosing a snack, getting enough sleep. Write them with the school nurse, who often owns the health plan and knows what the student can safely do alone.

Task analysis: telling an adult about pain

1. Notice the body signal (a picture body map helps).
2. Find a known adult or use the help card.
3. Point to or name where it hurts.
4. Rate the pain on a 1 to 5 picture scale.
5. Follow the adult's direction, such as going to the nurse.

Health goal examples

See health self-management goals for diabetes, asthma and medication routines.

Weak: "The student will take care of his health."

Measurable: "Given a watch alarm, the student will go to the nurse for medicine without an adult reminder on 19 of 20 school days."

Leisure goals

Leisure is the domain teams skip most often, and it is the one that shapes a student's evenings and weekends for decades. A student who can choose an activity, start it and stay with it for 15 minutes has more to do at recess, at home and later in a group home or apartment. Choice-making is the core skill here.

Task analysis: choosing and starting a leisure activity

1. Go to the leisure shelf or open the choice board.
2. Look at 3 or more options.
3. Pick one by pointing, saying or touching the picture.
4. Take out the materials.
5. Start the activity.
6. Clean up when the timer ends.

Leisure goal examples

See leisure and recreation goals for more.

Weak: "The student will have appropriate leisure skills."

Measurable: "Given a choice board of 4 activities, the student will choose one and engage for 10 consecutive minutes without redirection on 4 of 5 days."

Life skills goals for students with autism

Life skills goals for autistic students use the same domains and measures. What changes is how the routine is taught and how the goal is written. Three adjustments come up most often.

• Plan for generalization from the start. A routine learned in one bathroom may not carry over to a new one. Write the criterion across 2 or 3 settings, materials or adults, and teach in those places. The glossary entry on generalization has examples.
• Build in visual supports, then fade them. A picture sequence or a visual schedule is often what makes independence possible. Say in the goal whether the support stays (a checklist on the mirror) or fades (a checklist removed by the third quarter).
• Account for sensory needs. Hand dryers, crowded stores and certain food textures can stop a routine cold. Note the support in the goal's condition, such as headphones in the cafeteria line, rather than counting it as a prompt.

The IEP goals for autism hub and the autism functional skills page list templates written with these supports in place.

How to measure progress on life skills goals

Score a task analysis by marking each step as independent or prompted, then divide independent steps by total steps. A student who does 6 of 10 steps alone scores 60% independent for that session. Record the prompt level on the prompted steps too, using the student's prompt hierarchy. Moving from a physical prompt to a gesture is real progress, even when the independent count has not moved yet.

Here is a worked example. In September, a student's handwashing probes were 2, 3 and 4 independent steps out of 8, so the baseline is the median, 3 of 8. The goal target is 8 of 8 on 4 of 5 consecutive days. By the November progress report, the student does 5 or 6 steps alone and needs a gesture for soap and drying. That is steady growth, and it points instruction at two steps.

Probe in the real setting, at the real time of day, at least once a week. Daily data is better for routines that happen every day, and it takes about 30 seconds per session on the task analysis data sheet. For safety and health skills that come up rarely, schedule probes rather than waiting for the situation. Frequent short measures over time make a trend you can act on.^[2]

Writing objectives for life skills goals

A task analysis makes objectives easy to write. Split the chain into parts and teach them in order, either from the first step (forward chaining) or from the last (backward chaining). For a 10-step meal routine, three objectives could be: steps 1 to 4 by the first report, steps 1 to 7 by the second, and all 10 by the annual review.

You can also write objectives by prompt level: full physical, then partial physical, then gesture, then independent. Short-term objectives or benchmarks are required for students who take alternate assessments aligned to alternate achievement standards.^[1] Many teams write them for life skills goals anyway, because they make progress reports concrete.

Adapting life skills goals by age

From age 16 at the latest (earlier in many states), life skills goals should connect to the student's measurable postsecondary goal for independent living, where appropriate.^[1] The transition planning guide explains how the pieces fit, and the independent living goals page has templates.

More life skills guides

• Functional IEP goal examples: 24 goals across routines, functional academics and independence, with a decision table.
• IEP goals for students with severe and profound disabilities: communication, choice-making and participation goals with support-level criteria.
• How to collect baseline data: the probes behind every baseline on this page.

To check a draft goal for a missing condition or criterion, paste it into the goal checker.

Frequently asked questions

Use it in IEP Atlas

• Functional skills IEP goals
• Daily living goals (functional skills)
• Independent living goals (transition)
• IEP goals for autism
• Hygiene IEP goals
• Cooking IEP goals
• Task analysis data sheet
• IEP goal checker

Related guides

• Functional IEP goal examples for independence at school, home and work
• IEP goals for students with severe and profound disabilities
• Transition planning in the IEP: what is required and when
• How to collect baseline data for an IEP goal
• Life skills to practice at home by age
• Teaching cooking in a life skills classroom
• Daily living skills IEP goals
• IEP goals for calling 911 and emergency skills
• Budgeting lessons for students with IEPs
• Community services IEP goals: library, post office and bank
• Community-based instruction planning
• Daily living skills assessment for IEP teams
• Fire drill and lockdown IEP goals
• Functional academics explained
• Functional reading word lists (signs, labels, menus)
• Home alone safety skills
• Home safety IEP goals: fire, electrical, poisons, sharp objects
• How to measure community-based instruction goals
• How to measure toileting goals with privacy
• IEP goals for diabetes self-management
• IEP goals for economics and needs vs wants
• IEP goals for grocery shopping
• IEP goals for handwashing
• IEP goals for health education topics
• IEP goals for household chores
• IEP goals for laundry
• IEP goals for nutrition and healthy eating
• IEP goals for ordering at a restaurant
• IEP goals for seizure safety
• IEP goals for showering and deodorant
• IEP goals for stranger safety
• IEP goals for street crossing
• IEP goals for students with food allergies
• IEP goals for toothbrushing
• IEP goals for vending machines and self-checkout
• Independent living IEP goals
• Independent living skills checklist for transition planning
• Leisure skills IEP goals and activities
• Medication self-administration goals
• Menstrual care and puberty hygiene IEP goals
• Personal information IEP goals
• Phone, tablet and texting safety IEP goals
• Potty training a child with autism: what belongs in the IEP
• Public transportation IEP goals
• Reporting pain, illness and injury IEP goals
• Safety signs IEP goals
• Teaching banking and debit card use
• Teaching personal safety and body boundaries
• What to do if lost: safety IEP goals

Sources

1. 34 CFR §300.320: Definition of individualized education program, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
2. Progress Monitoring: Data & Goal Setting, National Center on Intensive Intervention

Written and checked by the IEP Atlas editorial team under our editorial policy. This guide describes general practice and federal rules. It is not legal advice; your state may add requirements, and the IEP team makes the decisions for each student.