--- title: "Daily Life Therapy" description: "The Higashi approach to educating autistic children towards independence, built on three pillars." canonical: https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/let-it-go/daily-life-therapy/ updated: 2026-11-03 --- # Daily Life Therapy > The Higashi approach to educating autistic children towards independence, built on three pillars. Stephanie Shirley's framework, from Let It Go, pp. 208 to 218. Framework 6 of 7 from [Let It Go](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/let-it-go/index.md) by Stephanie Shirley. Category: Systems and operations. ## The steps 1. **Vigorous physical exercise.** Let children work off frustration through exercise instead of destructive behaviour, and defuse incidents with a burst of it. 2. **Emotional stability.** Provide it through many highly trained staff, usually one for every three pupils. 3. **Intellectual stimulation.** Teach through repetitive, ritualistic group tuition that exploits a love of routine, keeping unused materials out of sight. ## Where it comes from From chapter: 21. The Bitterest Pill, pp. 208–218 The Kingwood Trust brings conflict with Derek, whose protectiveness turns into suspicion of the charity's staff, and Shirley considers living apart. She directs her philanthropy toward leverage: £5m to the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists, which multiplies the value of a gift by at least ten to one through volunteer expertise. A visit to the Boston Higashi school inspires her to create a similar UK school, and she buys Prior's Court for £15m. Giles dies in October 1998. ## The animation 24 seconds, 4:5, no sound. - MP4: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/let-it-go/daily-life-therapy.mp4 - MP4, dark: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/let-it-go/daily-life-therapy-dark.mp4 - Still: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/let-it-go/daily-life-therapy.png - Still, dark: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/let-it-go/daily-life-therapy-dark.png