More Money Management Tips for Kids with Autism

As the parent of a teenage son with autism I am always looking for ways to help him to be more independent. One of the skills that kids with autism struggle with is money management. This is because money has a very symbolic purpose in social interactions and so it can be difficult for kids with autism to understand the purpose of money. However, here are some tools that can help.

Paypal Student Accounts

I just ran across this new program offered by Paypal. You can create a student account that will help your child to manage their money. It works just like a regular Paypal account in that your child can make purchases online or with the Paypal debit card. For kids with autism it is the debit card that is the most beneficial. You can use this card to teach them how to purchase items at the store. You can also use the account to teach them how to keep track of how much money that they have to spend. Other great features offered by this program include the ability to track the account using your mobile phone and parent email alerts which will text you each time your child uses the card.

Shopping Lists

Impulse control is another issue related to money management that is difficult for kids with autism to deal with. However, I have found that have a shopping list is the best way to make shopping trips more manageable. You can have your teen help you write out the list or if your child isn't literate yet, then you can use pictures to create a shopping list. It is important to stick to the list when shopping to reinforce the skill of impulse control when shopping.

Budgeting

Another skill that teens with autism need to develop is the ability to set a budget. Creating a budget for weekly expenses can help to modify their shopping behaviors and it will help them to stay within their spending budget for the month. Budgeting can be done on a computer or it can be done using cash.

If you want to use the computer you can set up a spreadsheet which shows how much money is available for the week or month and then lists categories of costs such as school lunch, entertainment and supplies.

Another option that you have is to use cash. You will lay out the cash that is available for the week to spend on things like school lunch and entertainment. Then you will have seven plastic baggies with a zip lock. You will divide the money into the seven different bags. Label each baggie with the name of the day or a date. You child will then be able to carry their bag with them for each day. The money inside will cover their daily expenses.