Safety in the Home for Children with Autism
August 26, 2020
By: Organization for Autism Research
Categories: Safety
All parents have household safety concerns, usually starting when their child begins crawling around the house. Baby-proofing the home is at the top of any parent’s priority list. However, children with autism may face unique risks because of their tendency to fixate on certain items or display sensory-seeking behaviors, which can leave them unaware of possible dangers around them. As a result, some typical household safety concerns may become more serious based on your child’s unique interests. These may include:
Always remember to consider the potential dangers of household items when they are accessible to a child who may not understand their purpose or danger. Below are some tips for creating a home environment that is not only safe, but also provides ongoing safety learning opportunities.
Think of your home as your child’s learning environment. The techniques you use to introduce and practice home safety skills are the same as you would use to teach any other skill. Provide positive reinforcement for skills performed correctly and in the right order, and when your child refrains from activities you’ve explicitly identified as being unsafe. Remember to keep steps simple, short, and few in number (chunking steps into mini-lessons helps with this).
Consider using social stories, activity schedules, visual rules, checklists, signs, or other techniques that have been successful with your child in the past. It also is important to apply the home safety skills your child is practicing in other environments, such as school or family member’s homes.
Some ideas include the following:
Home safety also involves home security. This can range from alarm systems to special locks. Some ideas for home security include:
In the event of an emergency, your first instinct always should be to call 911 and alert the appropriate authorities. If your child has ingested (or possibly ingested) something he shouldn’t have, then call poison control immediately. All emergency numbers, including people who are part of your safety network, should be written in several locations throughout your home and in your vehicles. It also may be helpful to provide your child with a laminated emergency contact card that you teach them to keep with them at all times.
This infographic summarizes the most helpful tips for household safety: