Practical and social skills of 16-19-year-olds with Down syndrome: independence still far away.

The team asked parents of 16- to 19-year-olds with Down syndrome what daily tasks their teens could do alone.

They looked at cooking, shopping, handling money, and social skills like starting a chat.

No teaching was given; it was a snapshot, not an intervention.

Fewer than one in ten teens could cook a simple meal or pay at a store.

Most still needed help with basics such as showering or crossing a street safely.

Parents said independence was still far away for almost every teen.

Pritchard et al. (2017) showed that a 12-week ABA group class helped high-functioning teens with autism gain daily living skills. Their results clash with the bleak picture here, but the difference is design: Duncan taught skills, while M et al. only counted what teens already did.

Payne et al. (2020) found that Dutch babies with Down syndrome already show clumsy goal planning at seven months. That early motor gap may snowball into the teen skill shortages M et al. describe.

Taub et al. (2023) add hope: teens with any disability gain self-determination when parents give real choices at home. Pairing that daily practice with Duncan’s lesson plan could push the low scores reported by M et al. in a better direction.

If you write transition plans for teens with Down syndrome, assume most cannot do basic chores or money tasks yet. Use short, step-by-step teaching like Duncan’s cooking routine and weave in choice-making moments shown by Tamar et al. Start early, keep sessions short, and track each tiny gain.