Safety Blog Series #3- Tips for Safety at Home

Better Safe than Sorry! 13 Ways to Proactively Increase Your Child’s Safety at Home

Children with ASD have some unique needs regarding safety in the home. Extra precautions are needed to keep your child safe, although these measures can apply to all children.

1.     Address: Teach your child to recite his address, telephone number, parent/guardian’s names, town child lives in, to different adults. Practice reciting not just with you, but with other adults. If your child is unable to do this due to age or ability, consider many forms of wearable identification.

2.     Wearable Identification: Even if your child can recite identification, consider wearable identification. Teach your child to wear a medical ID and teach him how and when to show another person the ID. An Internet search will show many options for identification wristbands, in many different styles and materials, including nylon, silicone, and lightweight Tyvek. A nice alternative to wristbands is ID tags that attach to the shoe. Another convenient option, especially for travel, is custom temporary tattoos containing ID information. (see resources)

3.     Teach him how to cross the street safely.

4.     Teach him whether (or how to) answer the phone.

5.     How him whether (or how to) to answer the door.

6.     Create a home evacuation plan in case of fire, and depending on age and ability, teach him what to do and where to go in case of emergency.

7.     Teach him how and when it is appropriate to call 911.

8.     Make friends with and talk to your neighbors. Let them know about your child’s special needs and limitations, especially if your child has low or no verbal abilities. Then teach your child which neighbor or house is safe in case of emergency.

9.     If you have a swimming pool, arrange for swim lessons. Prevent accidental access to pool with locked gates.

10.  Use seat-belt strap covers that contain identification information.

11.  For children who wander, consider using a GPS tracking device, and have identification (wrist, shoes, or temporary tattoos) on at all times.

12.  Teach signage in a fun, not scary way: stop sign, walk, don’t walk, poison, danger, men’s restroom, women’s restroom, keep out. Post small stop signs at child’s eye level on the windows and doors to visually remind a tempted child to stay inside. Post poison and danger signs where needed.

13.  Install door, window, and swimming pool alarms and locks.

Resources:

Free safety plans specifically for wandering children, but useful for everyone:

https://www.autismspeaks.org/creating-safety-plans-people-autism

https://researchautism.org/update-your-safety-plan/

http://nationalautismassociation.org/docs/BigRedSafetyToolkit.pdf

https://www.autism-society.org/focus-on-safety-keeping-individuals-on-the-autism-spectrum-out-of-harms-way/

Signage pictures

https://www.autismmomsknowsafety.com/

Identification wrist bands- so many styles are available! Here are a few examples:

https://www.roadid.com/collections/kids

https://keep-me-safe-ids.myshopify.com/pages/about-us

https://www.alertmebands.com/

https://www.etsy.com

Temporary tattoos and seat-belt cover with ID:

https://new.safetytat.com/product-category/medical-and-allergy

https://www.etsy.com