Daily Living Skills Worksheets: A Book Review

Occupational therapist and author, Linda Harrison asked if I would write a review for her new book “Daily Living Skills Worksheets”. I said yes because I love learning about new resources, but didn’t see how an entire book could be devoted to reproducible forms.

I don’t work in settings where I would need these types of daily living skills forms. But I am pleased to report that if you work with adolescents or adults with mental health conditions such as depression or manic depression, memory impairments, neurologically- based communication disorders such as asperger's syndrome or are just plain disorganized due to ADD or poor parenting experiences while growing up –this book has every form you might conceive of to help clients function in our ever increasingly complex world.

I love how the graphics are attractive, easy to read, yet attention is paid to keeping a mature appearance- the illustrator avoids being “cutesy”. Linda Harrison demonstrates a wealth of experience as she shares the types of daily skills she has learned are essential for clients who are getting ready to or already moved into the community. She has the hindsight to know where the pitfalls are and the worksheets are designed to avoid them.

Every worksheet has a description on the back – explaining the purpose, when to use, directions and specific tips such as “avoid focusing on too many goals” or “encourage your client to practice each step until she is comfortable with it before moving on to the next step”.

The forms cover a huge number of daily living skills areas-in fact, I can’t think of any that she left out. They include:

• Goal-setting

• Time management

• Money management

• Household management

• Personal care

• Memory/safety

• Leisure/productivity

• Communication

• Meetings

• Problem-solving/reflection

• Recording thoughts and feelings

This book is perfect for occupational therapists who might be new to working with these relatively high functioning clients. But even the more seasoned therapists will find this comprehensive resoruce beneficial and will surely come across some new ideas. It’s a must for other staff-perhaps counselors, teachers and even parents eager to push the little chick out of the nest. Happy launching!


Daily Living Skills Worksheets will be available soon on the website Dailylivingskills.com and costs $44.95.