Empowering Families with Autism Support

Habilitation (HAH) goals are individualized, measurable objectives created to help your child build new skills and increase independence in everyday life. These goals are part of your child’s Habilitation Plan under the Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD) and are implemented by your child’s habilitation provider (which could be an agency provider or a trained parent provider).

Think of HAH goals as a roadmap for skill-building — they break down complex tasks into small, teachable steps that your child can work toward through consistent, supportive instruction.

HAH goals guide the teaching process, ensure that services are purpose-driven, and help DDD determine that progress is being made. These goals:

• Ensure your child is working toward meaningful independence
   
• Help providers track growth and adjust strategies
   
• Show DDD and HCBS agencies that services are being used appropriately
   
• Empower families to understand what is being taught and why
   

When written well, HAH goals create clarity, accountability, and measurable success for everyone involved.

HAH goals can cover a wide range of life, social, and behavior skills, including:

• Communication
   
• Personal hygiene
   
• Community safety
   
• Social interaction
   
• Meal preparation
   
• Organization and routines
   
• Coping strategies
   
• Money handling
   
• Dressing and grooming
   

The goals should always be:

✅ Individualized to your child
✅ Functional — meaningful in real life
✅ Teachable — clear enough for any trained provider to follow
✅ Measurable — you can see progress over time

At Parent Pathways, we help families write and revise HAH goals in a way that:

• Reflects your child’s strengths and challenges
   
• Aligns with DDD expectations and HCBS standards
   
• Supports real-life progress at home, in school, and in the community
   
• Sets up parent providers or agencies for success with practical, teachable targets
   

We break the process down with you step by step — reviewing your child’s needs, identifying priority skills, and making sure the language is DDD-compliant but still easy to understand.

DDD typically follows this SMART format when approving goals:

S – Specific
M – Measurable
A – Achievable
R – Relevant
T – Time-bound

Each goal also includes:

• A clear objective
   
• The baseline (what your child can currently do)
   
• A teaching method (how the skill will be taught)
   
• A target criteria (how often or how well they must do it to consider the goal achieved)
   

Here are a few examples of well-structured, DDD-compliant HAH goals, broken into categories:

Goal:
"Given a visual choice board, [Child's Name] will select a preferred snack item using a pointing gesture or verbal request with 80% accuracy across 3 consecutive sessions."

Why it works:
It’s specific, measurable, and targets a meaningful skill — making choices and communicating needs.

Goal:
"[Child's Name] will complete a 5-step handwashing routine (turn on water, wet hands, apply soap, scrub, rinse and dry) independently with no more than one verbal prompt in 4 out of 5 opportunities."

Why it works:
It breaks a life skill into teachable steps and defines what “success” looks like.

Goal:
"When playing a structured game with one peer, [Child's Name] will take turns appropriately without verbal redirection in 3 out of 4 trials per session over a 30-day period."

Goal:
"[Child's Name] will prepare a simple cold meal (e.g., sandwich, cereal, or fruit cup) independently with no more than one visual prompt in 4 out of 5 opportunities."

Goal:
"When walking to a destination in the community, [Child's Name] will stop at all curbs and look both ways before crossing the street with no more than 1 prompt, in 3 out of 4 outings."

Goal:
"When feeling frustrated, [Child's Name] will use a taught calming strategy (deep breaths, requesting a break) in 3 out of 5 observed instances over a 4-week period."

HAH goals should be reviewed:

• At each DDD service planning meeting (usually every 90 days or 6 months)
   
• When major progress is made or new challenges arise
   
• When transitioning providers or service types (e.g., changing agencies)
   

Providers must document progress regularly and share it with the parent or guardian. If goals are too easy, too hard, or no longer relevant, they should be revised — and Parent Pathways can help with that, too.

• Is this skill important to my child’s daily life or independence?
   
• Is this written in a way that any trained provider could follow?
   
• How will we know if my child is making progress?
   
• Is this something my child is ready to learn right now?  This is very important!  We will discuss this thoroughly.
   

Writing habilitation goals can feel intimidating, but you’re not expected to do it alone. At Parent Pathways, we turn overwhelming into doable by helping families write, revise, and fully understand HAH goals that actually help their child grow.