Safety Skills — repeat repeat repeat
Filed Under (Safety) by Estee on 06-09-2010
Safety is a big concern for many autistic people. Sometimes, it’s just not possible to walk across the street by oneself, even though one might be extremely intelligent and capable in other areas. I think of this often so as not to be disappointed if Adam will need assistance in the future. As a parent, I consider it one of my obligations to Adam to ensure his safety. I therefore do everything I can, with the help of others too, to teach Adam safety skills. In the event I cannot, I try to ensure his safety in other ways.
One thing Adam loves to do is go for long walks. On the verge of beginning a new school tomorrow that will teach him safety, social and other life skills in addition to academics, Adam and I took a walk after dinner to his favorite icecream joint. Adam does not run off into the street, so lately I’ve made sure that he walks alongside me without holding my hand. This way I can see how he can walk pretty much on his own. It would be his tendency to flap his hands and look to the ground, and I have no issues with hand-flapping except when he is in an area where he really needs to be paying attention to his surroundings.
“Walk safely,” I repeat. I have chosen this instead of “nicely.” This is not about looking appropriate or “nice.” This is truly about keeping one’s eye on the cars and other hazards. Adam listens. He knows what this means now and he is walking and looking around him.
“What’s coming up?” I ask Adam approaching an intersection and prompt him with “in.” “What do you have to do here?”
“Stop,” he says abruptly.
“Stop and?”
“Look bot ways,” he says, his words staccato, unfinished, and somewhat robotic-sounding.
“Right. And what are you looking for?”
“Cars,” he says loudly.
“Is there a car coming?” I crouch down to his level pointing around us. Adam looks and answers a yes or a no, depending on whether or not there is one.
I am rather pleased this evening. With the constant repetition of this script that I’ve made up after numerous walks up and down the same heavily trafficked streets, I feel that we’ve made some headway.
I’ll be repeating this routine over and over again I am certain, even if I’m not certain if Adam will be able to one day walk the streets of Toronto safely on his own. It’s worth trying. Worth repeating.
ESTÉE KLAR
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA
Writer.Curator of Art. Founder of The Autism Acceptance Project. Mother of Adam. I like to write about our journey, musings, attitudes towards autism.
Yes, repeat, repeat, repeat. It’s what we do.
Practice makes for progress.
Charlie knows to stop at corners (mostly) and for stop signs due to all of his bike rides. Traffic signals are trickier—I don’t think he is always sure of where to look for them.
Looking forward to hearing how Adam is doing at his new school.
What a great way to be proactive about your son’s future needs! We do a lot of scripting/practicing/repetitions with our two Aspies and sometimes we see them start to generalize, sometimes not. All we can do it try and keep trying. Can’t wait to read about his school experiences!!!
when my 2 autistic children were younger it was a battle but now (my son is 13 and my daughter is 16) it got easier and they can both cross the street by themselves. i practiced with them every day for a couple of years so they would understand whet to do and did not care about the public conception of them, the important thing was working with them to understand the safety issue