By: Kari Kessler and Cassie Brusch

“Essential for Living (EFL) is a comprehensive functional, life skills curriculum, assessment, skill-tracking instrument, and professional practitioner’s handbook, which was designed for verbal and non-verbal children and adults with moderate-to-severe disabilities, including autism, and limited skill repertoires.”

EFL was developed for low-incidence students across disability groups. It can be an initial step into Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) programming that also utilizes Skinner’s verbal behavior and direct, explicit instruction teaching procedures. Students from preschool through adult learners can access the more than 3,000 skills addressed in EFL.

Schools or programs may find that some students are not able to access other developmental or functional resources. These could include discrete trial programs that focus on the VB-MAPP, the use of PEAK or the Competent Learner Model (CLM). When students are not making progress or do not fit the parameters of those resources, EFL could be an option. EFL is meant to be blended into the current programming in a classroom to support functional skills the learner needs to achieve greater independence and success in their daily lives.

EFL contains a speaker initiative that emphasizes the importance of many low-incidence students becoming functional speakers and listeners. The speaker initiative asks evaluators to look at 6 Types of Vocal Abilities and 48 Alternative Methods of Speaking. EFL also addresses functional academics, social, daily living and tolerating skills. All of these areas are further broken down into Must-Have, Should-Have, Good-to-Have and Nice-to-Have. Some of the specific skills addressed include making requests, following a picture schedule as well as following directions of familiar routines, answering questions, and more.

Teachers can complete a Quick Assessment to get EFL up and running. The Quick Assessment addresses the Essential Eight (see skills below). More recently, EFL has added Social and Leisure Skills to make the “Necessary Nine”.

- - Making Requests [mands]
  - Waiting after making requests
  - Accepting Removals — Transitions, Sharing, and Taking Turns
  - Completing Required Tasks — Completing Previous Acquired Tasks when asked to do so
  - Accepting “No”
  - Following Directions related to Health and Safety
  - Completing Daily Living Skills related to Health and Safety
  - Tolerating Skills related to Health and Safety