Instead of paying neurodivergent kids to do chores, what if we paid them to utilize their special interests with real-life skills?

Autistic and adhd kids should at least have the option of getting paid to write, draw, research, code, bake, design, etc.

THREAD.

If your daughter hates doing dishes and would rather be learning everything there is to know about frogs, for example, embrace it.

Fund her experiments, take a tadpole collecting expedition and pay her to write a research paper. These are valuable skills.

Don’t force your young artist to mow the lawn if it makes him miserable.

But him quality art supplies and commission him to paint a masterpiece instead. Or have him do 100 sketches of his special interest. Practice makes perfect.

If your child is too distracted to clean their room because they’re obsessed with video games, hire them to write strategy guides or game reviews. Pay them to develop a game of their own!

You can pick up the room together while they infodump about their project.

Yes, it’s great to get kids used to doing manual labor. Don’t get me wrong!

But if your kid is constantly reading comics, cultivate that interest and let him choose between, say, ‘washing the car’ and ‘drawing a comic book about whatever the hell he wants’.

For autistic and adhd kids in particular, don’t disrupt their day and force them to abandon their special interest to ‘build character’ by mowing the lawn.

You’re only building resentment and ruining their day. Changing tasks is a nightmare when you have executive dysfunction.

Any special interest can become a future skill or career, but more importantly, they give us comfort.

Special interests exist to help us make sense of a confusing, overwhelming world, so keep that in mind.

So in summary:

You aren’t building ‘character’ and ‘work ethic’ by forcibly pulling kids away from their passions to do chores, even for allowance.

Give your kids the option to earn money by doing what they love and learning in the process.

#ActuallyAutistic #Adhd