Teaching Children With Autism to Seek Help When Lost in Public

Abstract

Children with autism may not develop safety skills (e.g., help-seeking behaviors) without explicit teaching. One potentially hazardous situation is when a child with autism becomes separated from caregivers in a retail establishment or other public setting. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a treatment package (rules, role playing, and praise) delivered in the natural environment for teaching 3 boys with autism to seek assistance from store employees when they became lost. Treatment was effective, and help-seeking behaviors generalized to untrained stores for all participants.

Opinions of Turkish Parents and Teachers About Safety Skills Instruction to Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Preliminary Investigation

“…As children with ASD become more independent, less assistance is made available to them. With this independence comes a greater possibility of danger, injury, and/or accidents (Bergstrom et al 2012). Concurrent with this line of thinking, teachers indicate safety skills instruction for children with ASD is difficult when considering the students they teach in their schools.…”

“…As a result, they were unable to test the students' generalization and mastery of their acquired safety skills; which caused reluctance on the part of the teachers to provide safety skills instruction. Applied research literature researchers noted they mainly teach these skills to children with ASD in schools and tested generalization effects in familiar settings (Bergstrom et al 2012;Hoch et al 2009). …”

“…Although parents take precautions to protect their children from accidents, they may still encounter them at any time (Miltenberger 2008). Many children each year face the risk of injury, lost or death due to unintentional accidents (i.e., crossing the street, abduction, electric shock; Bergstrom et al 2012;Istre et al 2002;Phelan et al 2001;Runyan et al 2005;Tinsworth and McDonald 2001) as well as intentional accidents (i.e., physical and sexual abuse; Clees and Gast 1994;Dixon et al 2010;Pereda et al 2009). Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and other developmental disabilities face two to three times the risk of injury or abuse compared with those of their same age peers in the general population (Agran and Krump 2010;Calavari and Romanczyk 2012;Koller 2000;Lee et al 2008;McEachern 2012;Strickland et al 2007;Volkmar and Wiesner 2009;Yildirim-Sari and Girli 2012).…”

Bağımsız Yaşama Güvenli Bir Adım: Gelişimsel Yetersizliği Olan Bireyler İçin Güvenlik Becerileri / A Safe Step to an Independent Life: Safety Skills For Individuals with Developmental Disabilities

“…Gelişimsel yetersizliği olan bireylere sunulan eğitim hizmetlerinde hedeflenen en uzun dönemli amaç, bireye toplumla bütünleşmesini sağlayacak bilgi, beceri ve davranışları kazandırmak, bireyin toplum içinde güvenli bir yaşam sürdürmesini sağlamak, böylece bireyin ve dolayısıyla ailesinin bağımsızlığını ve yaşam kalitesini arttırmaktır. Gelişimsel yetersizliği olan bireylerin evde ve toplumsal yaşamda gerekli olan güvenlik becerilerini kazanmaları, onların bağımsızlıklarını arttırırken diğer taraftan güvenlik tehditlerinin artmasına ve güvenliklerini tehdit eden durumlarla karşı karşıya kalmalarına yol açmaktadır (Bambara, Koger ve Bartholomew, 2014;Bergstrom, Najdowski ve Tarbox, 2012;Mechling, 2008;Taylor, Hughes, Richard, Hoch ve Coello, 2004;Wehmeyer ve Shrogren, 2015). Alanyazında gelişimsel yetersizliği olan bireylerin tehlikeli bir durumu fark etme ve tanımlama, tehlikeli bir durumla karşılaştığında uygun sürede uygun davranışları sergileme, kendini koruma ve kişisel güvenliğini sağlama, kendisine yönelik olumsuz bir durumu ya da suçu ebeveynlerine ya da çevresindeki kişilere bildirme ve yardım isteme gibi güvenlikle ilgili becerileri yerine getirmede çeşitli sınırlıklar yaşadıkları ifade edilmektedir (Ergenekon, 2012;Kenny, Bennett, Dougrey ve Steele, 2013;Mazzucchelli, 2001;Mechling, 2008 Gelişimsel yetersizliği olan bireyleri güvenliğini tehdit eden durumlardan koruyabilmek için bireyin yaşadığı ya da içinde bulunduğu çevrede çeşitli önlemler alınmalı ya da bireye bu tür durumlarla karşı karşıya kaldığında ne yapacağı öğretilmelidir.…”

An Evaluation of a Parent Implemented In Situ Pedestrian Safety Skills Intervention for Individuals with Autism

“…Similarly, utilizing only one or some parts of BST was not as effective as using all aspects of BST training (Neilson & Bowes, 1994). Numerous studies have shown in situ training has been effective for teaching safety skills to individuals with developmental disabilities including: abduction-prevention (Gast, Collins, Worley, & Jones, 1993;Gunby, Carr, & LeBlanc, 2010), seeking help when lost (Bergstrom, Najdowski, & Tarbox, 2012;Taylor, Hughes, Richard, Hoch, & Coello, 2004), sexual abuse prevention (Miltenberger et al, 1999), and pedestrian skills (Batu, Ergenekon, Erbas, & Akmanoglu, 2004;Blew, Schwartz, & Luce, 1985;Collins, Stinson, & Land, 1993;Horner, Jones, & Williams, 1985;Marchetti, McCartney, Drain, Hooper, & Dix, 1983). Also, studies comparing pedestrian safety skills training in simulated settings with real settings evidenced significantly better acquisition and maintenance of skills in typically developing individuals and individuals with developmental disabilities when training occurred in real settings (Dixon et al, 2010;Mechling, 2008;Wright & Wolery, 2011).…”