Teaching the How and Why of Hygiene

UPDATED 8/22/25

For some reason, hygiene is a taboo subject. I think the reason why most people feel this way is because they do not like to talk about it or teach it, and it is personal. Granted, all these reasons are founded, but it is vital for special needs children to understand how and why we do personal hygiene.



The Why of Hygiene:

1. To maintain good health, personal hygiene is necessary.
2. If you smell, look messy, clothes and body are dirty, etc. people will avoid you like the plague.
3. Maintaining good hygiene makes you feel good.
4. To have friends, a job, boyfriend/girlfriend, etc. and to maintain your relationship with them.
5. It is an effective way to prevent transmission of diseases.



There are many tactics to promote good hygiene. Here are some that might be useful.

1. Read books about good hygiene to your child or have them do coloring books or puzzles and games and even watch DVDs.

The Berenstain Bears’ Bath Book by Stan and Jan Berenstain

The Berenstain Bears’ and the Bad Habit by Stan and Jan Berenstain

The Berenstain Bears’ Get Don’t Haftas by Stan and Jan Berenstain

The Berenstain Bears’ Go To The Dentist by Stan and Jan Berenstain

The Berenstain Bears’ Go To The Doctor by Stan and Jan Berenstain

Dog Breath by Dav Pilkey

Bathtime for Biscuit by Alyssa Satin Capucilli

Open Wide: Tooth School Inside by Laurie Keller

Brush Your Teeth Please Pop Up by Reader’s Digest

Carabella’s Teeth by An Vrombaut

Show Me Your Smile: A Visit To The Dentist (Dora the Explorer) by Christine Ricci

Have You Ever Seen a Moose Brushing His Teeth? by Jamie McClaine

Going to the Dentist by Anne Civardi

Sesame Street Ready, Set, Brush: A Pop-Up Book by Che Rudko

Germs Are Not for Sharing by Elizabeth Verdick

Wash Your Hands by Tony Ross

Those Mean Nasty Dirty Downright Disgusting but...Invisible Germs by Judith Anne Rice

Take Care Of Your Teeth by Don L. Curry

The Tooth Book: A Guide to Healthy Teeth and Gums by Edward Miller



Good Hygiene coloring books

Hygiene Puzzles

Hygiene DVDs

pinterest.com- Hygiene Activities for Kids

thecounselingteacher.com- Easy to Teach Hygiene Activities for Kids

rayitoschools.com- Fun Personal Hygiene Games for Kids

galaxykids.ai- 5 Fun Games to Teach Your Kids about Hygiene

healthforkids.co- Have fun and learn at the same time playing our great selection of health based games, including Poop Shooter, Shine Time, Micro Doctor and more.

sesameworkshop.org- Brush Those Teeth

lingokids.com- Activities to Learn About Personal Hygiene

familiesforlife.sg- Keep Off! An Online Game To Teach Your Kids About Personal Hygiene (FREE)

yourmckinneydentist.com- 7 Fun Ways to Teach Your Kids About Good Dental Hygiene



2. Curriculums or programs are another way of helping your child understand why we do good hygiene.

Personal Hygiene? What’s That Got to Do With Me? By Pat Crissey- This is a curriculum developed for students with autism, Asperger's Syndrome, learning and developmental disabilities, designed to help them understand how others perceive their appearance and the social implications of neglecting personal hygiene. Simple factual information is accompanied by humorous cartoons that emphasize how others view someone with poor hygiene. Step-by-step cartoons explain exactly what the student needs to do to ensure good hygiene. Quizzes and activity pages provide numerous opportunities for repetition and reinforcement of the key points. There are also hands-on activities to demonstrate why and how to perform various hygiene tasks. Several social stories are also provided, along with a set of worksheets that help students set up a daily schedule to allow time for completing necessary hygiene tasks.

atsu.edu- Creating Healthy Habits - Neat and Clean In this lesson students will learn the importance of daily cleanliness for health, how to practice daily cleanliness, and relate this information to their own

virtuallabschool.org- Staying Healthy: Proper Hygiene
The most important part of your job is to keep children safe and healthy. Hand hygiene is a simple way to prevent the spread of disease. You can encourage and model healthy habits like handwashing for young children. This lesson focuses on proper handwashing techniques for adults and children. It also addresses healthy habits and general hygiene practices for responding to children with colds, cuts and scrapes, and children who are bleeding.

lysol.com- Germs Lesson Plan For Kids

chathamcountync.gov- Several lessons of good hygiene posted for all grade levels



3. Teach your child that good hygiene is a rule that they must abide to. ASD children love rules and thrive on them. Letting them know that good hygiene is a rule that we must all do will keep them focused on maintaining good hygiene.



4. If your child is stubborn with the concept of why we bother with good hygiene, this scared straight tactic might be useful: you can show them pictures of people who did not take care of themselves and what happened to their bodies because of it. For some reason this seemed to work with my son best (he particularly was enthralled with large color pictures) and he does extremely well with his personal hygiene to this day.




The Teaching of Hygiene:

Good habits of cleanliness should be established with your child at an early age. The best way to teach your child and learn about good hygiene is for the child to see the parents do it day in and day out. A daily routine of good hygiene should also be set up and your child should be encouraged to observe it. It will then become a habit and hopefully the child will do it without too much prompting.

When teaching your child how to brush their teeth, take a bath, etc. parents must show them how to do it. Parents will do this with them at first and gradually show the child by using hand on hand technique of how to do it correctly. As the child gets the hang of it, parents will step back and prompt when necessary, give praise that is gradually decreasing, and fade back to allow the child to do it independently and without being told. With special needs children it is sometimes necessary to break the skills down into steps and make a visual schedule (pictures and/or words) for them to follow. This lets the child see what they are supposed to do, in what order, and to keep on task.

do2learn.com- How to Make a Visual Schedule
Overview, Reminder Strips, Other Layouts, Physical Variations

do2learn.com- How to Make Story Strips
Overview, Behavior, First…/Then…

do2learn.com- Personal Care Picture Cards to make your own visual schedule

usevisualstrategies.com- Scroll down to: Printable Picture Groupings and click on Hygiene Cards for toothbrushing

*You can also have your child do each and every step and take pictures of them doing it. Use these to make a personal Visual Schedule.



And to promote good hygiene, parents can use Positive Behavior Supports to help their child visualize behaviors throughout the day.

freeprintablebehaviorcharts.com- Using Behavior Charts

chartjungle.com- Daily Hygiene Chart (for younger children)

chartjungle.com- Daily Hygiene Chart (for teens)

chorecharts.net- Personal Care Charts
Personal Hygiene, Brushing Twice a Day, Tooth Care Chart

freeprintablebehaviorcharts.com- Teeth Care Charts

chartjungle.com- Brush Teeth Twice a Day Chart

chartjungle.com- Brush Teeth Three Times a Day Chart