Can Kids With Autism Go to a Restaurant?

Eating out at a sit-down restaurant or even ordering food from a fast food drive-through are tasks that many adults do on a semi-regular basis. While it’s considered a luxury for some, these tasks are part of everyday life for people, whether they’re celebrating a special occasion, going to a work function or just don’t feel like cooking.

For individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), ordering at a restaurant may be an overwhelming experience that causes them a lot of stress and anxiety. However, through applied behavior analysis (ABA therapy), individuals with autism can learn the skills necessary to reduce stress and anxiety so they can navigate the situation with confidence.

In this article, we’ll discuss how ABA therapy can teach how to order at a restaurant.

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Why is It Important to Learn How to Order at a Restaurant?

Ordering at a restaurant may seem like a trivial thing, but it’s actually a key skill that all individuals need to learn.

For one, it leads to the ability to live independently. Knowing how to order at a restaurant provides individuals with choices for where, when and what they want to eat, and doesn’t tie them to their home.

Even the ability to order food from a fast food, takeout restaurant or deli expands what a person can do on a day-to-day basis. They can travel long distances or even venture away from their home for multiple hours at a time.

In addition, ordering at a restaurant will become necessary as individuals attend higher education classes, get a job and go to work, and attend various celebrations for friends, family members and colleagues.

How Does ABA Therapy Teach How to Order at a Restaurant?

Many strategies can be used in ABA therapy to teach how to order at a restaurant.

One fundamental strategy is task analysis, which will break down the complex process of ordering at a restaurant into smaller steps that are much more manageable. These steps could be learning what a menu is and how to read it, how to choose what they want to eat, how to tell a waiter what they want to eat and drink, and how to ask for more drink after the food has arrived.

Therapists will teach one skill at a time until the individual with autism masters that skill before moving onto the next. Once they’ve learned each individual step, they will be taught how to chain them together so that they can exhibit the behavior successfully.

Task analysis is just a generalized approach in ABA therapy, though. There are many other tools and strategies that will be used throughout the process, with the therapist choosing ones that are most appropriate to each individual patient.

Many times, they will provide prompts during teaching so that the patient knows when it’s time to do certain things. This could include visual aids such as pictures of a menu to signify that it’s time to pick up the menu to read what’s on it.

As the individual successfully makes progress throughout the teaching, the ABA therapist will use positive reinforcement to reward them. This could be time for a preferred activity, extra praise or a token they can exchange later, all of which creates engagement in the activity and keeps the individual motivated to learn more.

As ABA therapists are teaching patients how to order at a restaurant, they will role play the scenario. This can happen at the normal therapy location at first and then progress to other locations.

Ultimately, part of the ABA therapy plan will be working to help the individual generalize the skill so they can use it in any environment and with any people. To do this, therapists may travel with patients to fast food restaurants, take out restaurants, casual dining restaurants and even fine dining settings to help them generalize their skills and build their confidence.

Individuals Can Learn How to Order at a Restaurant with Blue Gems ABA

Ordering at a restaurant is a skill that helps individuals gain independence and mobility, while also making it easier for them to work, go to school and socialize outside of the home.

En Blue Gems ABA, we teach our patients practical life skills, including how to order at a restaurant. We build personalized ABA therapy treatment plans that are targeted to each individual’s unique strengths, challenges and preferences so that they can be more successful.

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