Teaching Safety Skills to Children with Autism: An ABA Approach
As parents and caregivers, ensuring your child’s safety always comes first, especially when it comes to children who may have limited verbal skills or difficulty understanding danger in their surroundings. One of the most important skills we can teach in early intervention is how to follow safety directions. Using Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) strategies in-home, we can break this down into small, teachable steps that help your child to stay safe.
Why Safety Skills Matter
Children with autism may not naturally respond to common safety instructions such as “stop,” “come here,” or “hold my hand.” These skills are important in situations like crossing the street, safety in the kitchen, or responding to emergencies. Intervention is important to reduce unsafe behaviors and to prevent harm to your child.
Foundational Skills to Start:
ABA emphasizes teaching foundational skills that build toward larger goals. At Learning Perch ABA, we focus on these core safety directions first:
Stop
Come here
Don’t touch (for sharp, hot, or dangerous objects.)
ABA Strategies to Teach Safety Directions
Pair the Direction with Reinforcement (Something your child likes) Use a highly motivating reinforcer (toy, praise, edible, etc.) immediately after your child responds correctly to a safety direction. The faster you give this reinforcement, the more likely it is to increase the response to your safety instruction.
Demonstrate the Safety Behavior by Modeling it For the behavior of stopping, model the behavior first by ending your walking stride and saying “Stop”. Next, teach your child by guiding your child through the motion if needed (e.g., gently placing your hand on their chest when you say “stop”). Over time, fade prompts so they begin to respond independently. You can fade prompts by moving your hand to their hand, then in front of their chest as a hand signal, until the child can rely on your voice.
Practice During Play Turn safety instruction into a fun game! Practice “stop and go” with music or “red light, green light.” Make sure to choose a game your child already likes or to create a new one so your toddler doesn’t have a previous aversive tie to any safety directions.
Use Visual Supports Visual cues like stop signs, red and green cards, or pictures of a hand can help your child process the meaning of a direction more effectively.
Practice in different areas Practice in and outside your home. In different rooms in your home, sidewalks around your neighborhood, or at the park. This helps promote learning for your child to respond to safety cues in novel environments.
Repetition is Crucial Consistency and repetition are the key for learning. Incorporate safety directions into daily routines: “Stop when you get to the street,” “Dad is going to turn on the stove, don’t touch,” or “Hold my hand when we get out of the car.”
Safety Skills Are Necessary
Teaching safety directions give you the confidence that your child has the tools to navigate the world safely. With practice, repetition, and plenty of praise, toddlers with autism can learn to follow directions that keep them safe no matter where they are.
If you’re unsure where to start, reach out to your ABA provider for personalized strategies unique to your child’s needs. Every small step towards progress is a step towards safety.
We hope this article provided you with an introduction to teaching safety skills to children and as always, our Learning Perch team is here to help you. Our dream is to help families everywhere through compassionate and quality care, without compromise. Find out more at www.learning-perch.com
Disclaimer: The information provided on this blog is for educational purposes only and should not be considered as a substitute for professional advice from a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). Always consult with your personal BCBA regarding specific behavioral interventions and treatment plans. The author(s) of this blog are not responsible for any actions taken based on the information presented here.
