Many parents with children diagnosed with autism know the fear of a wandering child. While this is something that may be worked on throughout an ABA program, it is important for a child to know some basic personal information. How the child communicates this information and what information the child knows, will differ for each child. A child should have some way of communicating name and parent’s phone number, town or street. This will all depend on the age and skill level of the child. If a child is non-verbal, an ID bracelet may help. If the child is non-verbal, yet, communicates via iPad or Picture exchange Communication System (PECS), the child should be able to communicate this basic information.
Teaching children with autism about “stranger danger” presents some obstacles, however, it is pretty crucial. Socialization and interacting with others is often a large part of an ABA program or any program for children with autism. Because of this, we need to be able to teach these children about who we should be able to trust, and those to be more weary of.
Children should have a safe place, people that they trust; this includes home, school and the people they live with, such as parents, siblings and/or grandparents. They can be taught that they can trust their teachers, friends and maybe some other adults that they see on a regular basis, such as their parent’s friends. If a child is lost and does not know who to turn to, they should have the tools to know who to look out for. A child can turn to a store worker when they are lost, a police officer and/or a fire fighter. We need to teach them “stranger danger” and not walking away with or talking to someone who looks nice or tries to talk to them.
There is a delicate balance for children with autism to learn to interact with people, yet remain cautious. Each ABA treatment program should include some aspect of appropriate socialization as well as learning and communicating basic personal information. `
Comments