We probably don’t have to tell you how important it is to teach your children basic money skills. After all, you likely know how integral financial independence is to your child’s success, and you want to provide them with the tools necessary to become independent in regard to saving.
However, as well-intended as your goals might be, meeting those goals can be a whole other challenge in itself. That’s because understanding and talking about money isn’t as straightforward as teaching other skills, like making a sandwich or riding a bike. It’s not a strict x=y situation, and money can be super complicated.
When you’re trying to teach a child with unique learning needs about money, things can get even more complicated and muddled. But it’s important – in fact, a recent study from the University of Missouri proved this. When a group of individuals with autism spectrum disorder, aged 16-25, were interviewed, almost all of them recognized how important financial literacy was in becoming an independent adult.
Unfortunately, many of these individuals also felt that they lacked the money management skills necessary to be successful. That’s where you can help.
If you’re looking for tips on how to teach a child with autism or other unique learning needs about saving, this guide should help you get started.
Start Small and Start Soon
Unfortunately, very few educators and parents spend an appropriate amount of time on learning about money (particularly saving and budgeting, two of the most elementary skills for financial independence). Instead, the focus seems to be more on social skills, verbal skills, and reading literacy.
Financial literacy is often viewed as something that can be done later, as it’s “less pressing” than the other skills that a child needs to be successful. However, as with any aspect of autism spectrum disorders or other unique learning needs, the more frequently something is taught at an early age, the more ingrained it becomes.
Start early. In this article, we’ll give you some more tips on how you can start teaching a child with unique learning needs about saving before they reach their transition years, so that these crucial aspects of financial literacy are already ingrained in their understanding.
Provide an Allowance – and Let Them Pay
One of the easiest ways to teach a child with unique learning needs (or any child, for that matter) about how to save and budget their money is to provide them with an allowance. There’s some controversy around this – some people don’t like the idea of giving an allowance because they feel that kids should be expected to do certain chores, not paid as an incentive. However, it’s important to note that providing an allowance does not have to be tied directly to “doing something.”
Paying an allowance on a weekly or monthly basis will help your children earn their own money and reinforce the value of that money in their minds. The key here is making your child responsible for paying occasionally, too. It could just be for that candy bar they want at the grocery store. However, you can also teach your child about how to budget and invest for the long term by requiring them to pay for larger purchases, too – like a bicycle or an expensive video game.
One tip? If you’re going to have your child pay for something they want, don’t judge the item. Of course, you should make sure the item is something that is safe and prudent for his or her age. However, you shouldn’t try to influence their purchasing goals otherwise, or they won’t have as much incentive to save.
When it comes time to buy, choose a store that your child feels comfortable in, ideally with a cashier that he or she has already met. Choose a time that the store is not busy to go in.
Set Up a Bank Account
Set up a bank account for your child, with your child in attendance. That way, you can explain to him what the paperwork means (what is an interest rate on a savings account? Why is this important? How does a bank account work?). Choose a time of day when the bank won’t be crowded.
Best yet, consider opening an account at a bank that is friendly to children, particularly those with unique needs. For example, Regions Bank recently decided to make all of its 1500 branches autism-friendly. Not only are all employees fully trained, but there are designated quiet areas and sensory bags, too.
Use Social Stories
Social stories shouldn’t be the only teaching tools when it comes to learning about saving and budgeting, but they can help. You can break down a task (opening a savings account or saving for a new bicycle) into easy to follow steps with illustrations. Use an app like Touch Autism if you’re having trouble coming up with your own social story – this will help you create a more personalized approach.
Games can often help, too. Kids with diverse needs often respond well to interactive games, and there are all kinds of organizations out there that specialize in financial literacy activities for kids. Three that are worthy of mention are Brain Arts Productions, My Classroom Economy, and EverFi.
The beauty of these games is that, if you are an educator, you can easily include these as part of your regular instruction. They’ll benefit all kids, and not just those with unique learning needs.
Help With Job Seeking
One of the best ways to teach about the importance of saving at an older age is to help your child get a job. Having a job teaches responsibility in so many ways, but once your child starts bringing in a regular income, he’ll realize how his hard work translates directly to a paycheck earned.
Research ABLE Accounts
In the past, it could be difficult for an adult with a disability to save for future needs without sacrificing their eligibility for public benefits, like Medicaid and SSI. That’s because, in order to receive public benefits, an individual coil has no more than $2,000 in assets – including savings accounts.
As of 2014, that has changed. Now, you can open an ABLE account for or with an individual with unique needs. The only qualifier is that the student must have a disability that began before the age of 26. Contributions can be made in annual amounts of $14,000. You can save up to $100,000 without affecting SSI or Medicaid eligibility. These account funds can be used for everything from education to housing and transportation.
Use Online Saving Tools
There are plenty of online apps, tools, and resources you can use to familiarize your child or student with the ins and outs of saving. We’ll talk more in-depth about these in a future article, but to get started, consider checking out resources like Mint.com and BudgetTracker.com. These all offer valuable tools you can tap into.
Set SMART Goals
If you want your child to work toward becoming a more savvy saver, one of the easiest things you can do is set a few goals. Remember, for a goal to be a good one, it needs to be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-related). When you are first getting started, it might make the most sense to start out with a small goal before moving on to larger ones.
Download the worksheet by entering your email below to help keep track of your saving progress.
Work as a Team
When you’re trying to teach a child about money, the best thing you can do is get everyone on the same page. If you’re a teacher, enlist the help of the parents, and if you’re a parent, see what activities are being offered at school to boost financial literacy. Even administrators and paraprofessionals can help in many ways.
Ultimately, it can be challenging to teach a child with unique learning needs about money, since it’s a conceptual (and not concrete) idea. Many children with diverse learning needs are concrete thinkers that need more literal interpretations of the day-to-day.
Luckily, there are plenty of ways to easily acquaint a diverse learner with the skills they need to be successful in saving. The key is starting early, keeping it real, and keeping it relevant. While having frequent conversations about these topics is important, what’s even more important is that you teach these topics in a hands-on way.
That way, these concepts can be fully brought to life – and your child can start saving for his or her future financial goals.
Further Reading
- ABLE National Resource Center: About ABLE Accounts
- Cheak-Zamora et al: Financial Capabilities Among Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Cummins, Denise: Should You Give Your Kids an Allowance?
- Kobliner, Beth: 4 Fun Activities to Teach Kids About Money