Labeling Safe/Unsafe Situations

Children with ASD can find the long-term goal of labeling or identifying safe/unsafe situations difficult to master. They may engage in unsafe behaviors that can arise from avoidance of sensory stimulations, the inability to communicate effectively with others to ask for help, or the inability to recognize situations that are safe versus those that are not safe. For example, your child may wander down to a body of water or to a pool when they have left an area where they are supposed to be (also called elopement), such as their home, not making the connection between the danger that the water poses and their inability to swim. The topic of safety is important across many domains and your child’s ability to master the long-term goal of labeling or identifying a situation as “safe” or “unsafe” may help your child modify their behaviors in an unsafe situation. Safety knowledge can be applied in social and educational situations, in instances of elopement, in the home, and during the use of electronic devices. Evaluate the most present risks to your child according to their age and developmental needs to prioritize safety lessons.

The following strategies and resources may help your child make progress towards mastering the long-term goal of labeling safe/unsafe situations:

1. Use visual aids. Different types of visual aids can help your child identify safe and unsafe situations. For example, use flash cards that show safe and unsafe situations. Start by showing your child a safe or unsafe image and telling your child what the picture represents. You might show a picture of a child trying to light a fire with matches and say “This child is trying to light a fire. This is not safe.” Repeat with an image of a safe situation. For example, you might show a picture of a child eating an apple and say “This child is eating an apple. This is safe.” Repeat the exercise but prompt your child to indicate if the image is “safe” or “unsafe.” Provide positive reinforcement, praise, and encouragement. This may be in the form of verbal praise (“Good job!”) and/or offering a preferred item as a reward. Phase out the positive reinforcement when the skill has been sufficiently acquired. If the reinforcer for the behavior is a tangible item, such as a small snack or a token for a token board, ensure that it is provided with a great deal of verbal praise. Ideally, you want your child’s positive behaviors to be supported solely by social reinforcement. 
2. Tact events. Use simple labels to identify the event and the urgency. You can use an image. Have your child tact the image, after which they should tact the urgency through the selection of one of two simple phrases: “safe,” or “unsafe.” As an example, you may provide an image of an individual who is close to a fire. First, using the method of communication that your child prefers, ask your child to label the image. Next, ask your child if the scenario shown is safe or unsafe. Repeat with images that also portray “safe.” Provide positive reinforcement, praise, and encouragement. This may be in the form of verbal praise (“Good job!”) and/or offering a preferred item as a reward. Phase out the positive reinforcement when the skill has been sufficiently acquired. If the reinforcer for the behavior is a tangible item, such as a small snack or a token for a token board, ensure that it is provided with a great deal of verbal praise. Ideally, you want your child’s positive behaviors to be supported solely by social reinforcement.
3. Use a social story. Select the social story you want to read with your child. This can be a social story from a resource or one that you have made yourself. You can also use a short story/book that your child enjoys if it teaches about differentiating between safe and unsafe situations. It is recommended to read a social story with your child when they are calm and attentive, and to read them as many times as your child wants. While reading the social story, you can also employ a model prompt to show your child what to do at the beginning of the following trial (e.g., model for your child what to say if a stranger tries to take them somewhere, such as “this is bad,” “I need to call for help,” or “I need to tell my parents”).

Social Stories | ECLKC (hhs.gov)

How to Write a Social Story + 13 Editable Stories - Speech Therapy Store

Free Social Story Templates | And Next Comes L - Hyperlexia Resources

• Stranger Danger. It is important to teach this in a manner that emphasizes that unless it is you, their parent, asking them to do something, if your child is uncomfortable, they should ask for/find you, their parent. Make sure you tell your child that, for example, if a stranger comes and says, “Your parent told me to come pick you up,” you, the parent, actually need to be present there to say it's okay.

Strangers Social Story by Teach Simple

Living Well With Autism - Social Stories - Personal Safety

• Pool safety. 

Pool-Safety-Rules.pdf (cornerstoneautismcenter.com)

• School behavior.

Social Stories for School Behavior - Watson Institute (thewatsoninstitute.org)

• Eating non-food items.

PICA Story - Autism Little Learners

• Internet safety.

Online Safety Social Story — PAAutism.org, an ASERT Autism Resource Guide

4. Additional Resources:

• Unsafe situations flashcards/images:

Dangerous situations, safety, safe, unsafe scenarios, sequencing stories,FREEBIE (teacherspayteachers.com)

Sequencing, Dangerous, danger, safety, safe, unsafe, autism, social skills, FREE (teacherspayteachers.com)

Safe or Unsafe? Sorting Cards (Teacher-Made) - Twinkl

School Safety PowerPoint - Is this Safe? | Primary Resource (twinkl.com)

• Hazardous ingestible items images:

Smarty Pants: Poison Safety (smartypantsschool.blogspot.com)

• Internet safety resources:

10 Internet Safe Search Engines for Kids (and Chrome Extensions) 

Kid-Safe Browsers and Search Sites

Protecting Kids Online - Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Advice

• Purchasable books on safety:

Officer Buckle and Gloria

In order to help your child master the long-term goal of labeling safe/unsafe situations, you can work with your child on the short-term goals of labeling safe/unsafe situations in an outdoor environment (e.g., safe/unsafe situations at the pool), labeling safe/unsafe situations in an indoor environment (e.g., safe/unsafe situations in the living room), labeling/identifying hazardous items, labeling/identifying safe/unsafe situations around strangers, labeling/identifying safe/unsafe situations on the internet, and labeling safe/unsafe situations within 1 minute. For the short-term goal of labeling safe/unsafe situations in an outdoor environment, you can choose a target such as labeling safe/unsafe situations at the pool or the target of labeling safe/unsafe situations at a park.

Labeling Safe/Unsafe Situations in an Outdoor Environment

Step 1: Select the situation that you want to practice with your child to label as safe or unsafe. For example, you can choose the target of labeling safe/unsafe situations at the pool while working on the short-term goal of labeling safe/unsafe situations in an outdoor environment. Select 2 pictures as follows: one image of a child running by the pool and one image of a child walking by the pool.

Step 2: An initial/specific discriminative stimulus (SD) should be selected that will cue your child that the task will start. This SD can be a visual SD, such as the image of a child running by the pool, or a verbal SD (“Is this unsafe?” or “Is this safe?”).

Step 3: Collect baseline level data by providing the SD from Step 2 and allowing your child to attempt to independently label the safe/unsafe situations at the pool for which you prompted. The baseline level will vary according to your child and their specific abilities. As an example, you can count how many times in a row they independently label a picture as unsafe. Alternatively, you can count how many times they independently label a picture as unsafe in a given time interval (e.g., 5 min, 15 min, 30 min, 1 hour, etc.). Once your child can consistently and independently label a picture as unsafe you can move to teaching the short term goal of labeling a picture as unsafe within 1 minute.

Step 4: To begin a trial for monitoring progress towards meeting the target (i.e., labeling safe/unsafe situations at the pool), provide the SD from Step 2 and allow your child to attempt to label the image as safe or unsafe independently. When your child is successful, provide reinforcement. If the reinforcer for the behavior is a tangible item such as a small snack or a token for a token board ensure that it is provided with a great deal of verbal praise. Ideally, you want your child's positive behaviors to be supported solely by social reinforcement. If the behavior was not displayed, end the trial and provide the appropriate level of prompting on the following trial. For example, you can show your child the image of a child running by the pool and say, “This is unsafe.” 

Step 5: Collect data on how your child makes progress. For example, track progress by counting how many times your child is able to independently label a picture as unsafe in a given time interval. Alternatively, you can track progress by counting how many times in a row your child can independently label a picture as unsafe during a session.

Step 6: Track how your child makes progress to meet the target of labeling safe/unsafe situations at the pool by comparing with either a number threshold or a percentage threshold (necessary to meet the target). For example, you can record the number of successful attempts at labeling safe/unsafe situations at the pool over a certain number of sessions, and compare that with the number threshold necessary to meet the target. Alternatively, you can record what percentage of images your child can label as safe/unsafe situations at the pool, and compare that with the percentage threshold necessary to meet the target.

For the short-term goal of labeling safe/unsafe situations within 1 minute, you can choose a target such as labeling safe/unsafe situations when crossing the street within 1 minute.

Labeling Safe/Unsafe Situations within 1 Minute

Step 1: Select the situation that you want to practice with your child to label as safe or unsafe within 1 minute. For example, you can choose the target of labeling within 1 minute safe/unsafe situations when crossing the street while working on the short-term goal of labeling safe/unsafe situations within 1 minute. Select 2 pictures as follows: one image of a child crossing the street at a crosswalk and one image of a child crossing the street in traffic without a crosswalk or traffic light.

Step 2: An initial/specific discriminative stimulus (SD) should be selected that will cue your child that the task will start. This SD can be a visual SD, such as the image of a child crossing the street in traffic without a crosswalk or traffic light, or a verbal SD (“Is this unsafe?” or “Is this safe?”).

Step 3: Collect baseline level data by providing the SD from Step 2 and allowing your child to attempt to independently label within 1 minute the safe/unsafe situation for which you prompted. The baseline level will vary according to your child and their specific abilities. As an example, you can count how many times in a row they independently label a picture as unsafe within 1 minute. Alternatively, you can count how many times they independently label a picture as unsafe within 1 minute over a given time interval (e.g., 5 min, 15 min, 30 min, 1 hour, etc.). Once your child can consistently and independently label a picture as unsafe within 1 minute (3, 4, or 5 times in a row), you can increase the number of pictures to be identified. For example, 6 pictures where only 2 are unsafe, and the rest depict safe situations.

Step 4: To begin a trial for monitoring progress towards meeting the target (i.e., labeling within 1 minute safe/unsafe situations when crossing the street), provide the SD from Step 2 and allow your child to attempt to independently label the image as safe or unsafe within 1 minute. When your child is successful, provide reinforcement. If the reinforcer for the behavior is a tangible item such as a small snack or a token for a token board ensure that it is provided with a great deal of verbal praise. Ideally, you want your child's positive behaviors to be supported solely by social reinforcement. If the behavior was not displayed, end the trial and provide the appropriate level of prompting on the following trial. For example, you can show your child the image of a child crossing the street in traffic without a crosswalk or traffic light and say, “This is unsafe.”

Step 5: Collect data on how your child makes progress. For example, track progress by counting how many times your child is able to independently label a picture as unsafe within 1 minute in a given time interval. Alternatively, you can track progress by counting how many times in a row your child can independently label a picture as unsafe within 1 minute during a session.

Step 6: Track how your child makes progress to meet the target of labeling  within 1 minute safe/unsafe situations when crossing the street by comparing with either a number threshold or a percentage threshold (necessary to meet the target). For example, you can record the number of successful attempts at labeling within 1 minute safe/unsafe situations when crossing the street over a certain number of sessions, and compare that with the number threshold necessary to meet the target. Alternatively, you can record what percentage of images your child can label within 1 minute as safe/unsafe situations when crossing the street, and compare that with the percentage threshold necessary to meet the target.

For the short-term goal of identifying hazardous items, you can choose a target such as identifying hazardous items in the kitchen.

Identifying Hazardous Items in the Kitchen 

Step 1: Select the item that you want to practice with your child to label as safe or unsafe. For example, you can choose the target of identifying hazardous items in the kitchen while working on the short-term goal of identifying hazardous items. Select 2 pictures as follows: one image of a bleach bottle and one image of an apple.

Step 2: An initial/specific discriminative stimulus (SD) should be selected that will cue your child that the task will start. This SD can be a visual SD, such as the image of bleach, or a verbal SD (“Is this safe?” or “Is this unsafe?”).

Step 3: Collect baseline level data by providing the SD from Step 2 and allowing your child to attempt to independently identify the hazardous items in the kitchen for which you prompted. The baseline level will vary according to your child and their specific abilities. As an example, you can count how many times in a row they independently identify a hazardous item from the kitchen. Alternatively, you can count how many times they independently identify a hazardous item from the kitchen in a given time interval (e.g., 5 min, 15 min, 30 min, 1 hour, etc.).

Step 4: To begin a trial for monitoring progress towards meeting the target (i.e., identifying hazardous items in the kitchen), provide the SD from Step 2 and allow your child to attempt to label the image as safe or unsafe independently. When your child is successful, provide reinforcement. If the reinforcer for the behavior is a tangible item such as a small snack or a token for a token board ensure that it is provided with a great deal of verbal praise. Ideally, you want your child's positive behaviors to be supported solely by social reinforcement. If the behavior was not displayed, end the trial and provide the appropriate level of prompting on the following trial. For example, you can show your child the image of a bleach bottle and say, “This is unsafe.”

Step 5: Collect data on how your child makes progress. For example, track progress by counting how many times your child is able to identify a hazardous item from the kitchen in a given time interval. Alternatively, you can track progress by counting how many times in a row your child can independently identify a hazardous item from the kitchen during a session.

Step 6: Track how your child makes progress to meet the target of identifying a hazardous item from the kitchen by comparing with either a number threshold or a percentage threshold (necessary to meet the target). For example, you can record the number of successful attempts at identifying a hazardous item from the kitchen over a certain number of sessions, and compare that with the number threshold necessary to meet the target. Alternatively, you can record what percentage of images your child can identify as a hazardous item from the kitchen, and compare that with the percentage threshold necessary to meet the target.

For the short-term goal of labeling/identifying safe/unsafe situations around strangers, you can choose a target such as identifying safe/unsafe strangers at school.

Identifying Safe/Unsafe Strangers at School

Step 1: Select the strangers that you want to practice with your child to identify as safe or unsafe. For example, you can choose the target of identifying safe/unsafe strangers at school while working on the short-term goal of identifying safe/unsafe situations around strangers. Select 2 pictures as follows: a picture of a police officer and a picture of a stranger your child has never seen.

Step 2: An initial/specific discriminative stimulus (SD) should be selected that will cue your child that the task will start. This SD can be a visual SD, such as the image of a stranger your child has never seen, or a verbal SD (“Is this person unsafe?” or “Is this person safe?”).

Step 3: Collect baseline level data by providing the SD from Step 2 and allowing your child to attempt to independently identify safe/unsafe strangers at school for which you prompted. The baseline level will vary according to your child and their specific abilities. As an example, you can count how many times in a row they independently identify a picture of a stranger as unsafe. Alternatively, you can count how many times they independently identify a picture of a stranger as unsafe in a given time interval (e.g., 5 min, 15 min, 30 min, 1 hour, etc.). Once your child can consistently and independently identify a picture of a stranger as unsafe you can move to teaching the skill of identifying a picture of a stranger as unsafe within 1 minute.

Step 4: To begin a trial for monitoring progress towards meeting the target (i.e., identifying safe/unsafe strangers at school), provide the SD from Step 2 and allow your child to attempt to independently identify the image of a stranger as safe or unsafe. When your child is successful, provide reinforcement. If the reinforcer for the behavior is a tangible item such as a small snack or a token for a token board ensure that it is provided with a great deal of verbal praise. Ideally, you want your child's positive behaviors to be supported solely by social reinforcement. If the behavior was not displayed, end the trial and provide the appropriate level of prompting on the following trial. For example, you can show your child the image of a stranger your child has never seen and say, “This person is unsafe.”

Step 5: Collect data on how your child makes progress. For example, track progress by counting how many times your child is able to independently identify a picture of a stranger as unsafe in a given time interval. Alternatively, you can track progress by counting how many times in a row your child can independently identify a picture of a stranger as unsafe during a session.

Step 6: Track how your child makes progress to meet the target of identifying safe/unsafe strangers at school by comparing with either a number threshold or a percentage threshold (necessary to meet the target). For example, you can record the number of successful attempts at identifying safe/unsafe strangers at school over a certain number of sessions, and compare that with the number threshold necessary to meet the target. Alternatively, you can record what percentage of images your child can identify as safe/unsafe strangers at school, and compare that with the percentage threshold necessary to meet the target.

For the short-term goal of labeling/identifying safe/unsafe situations on the internet, you can choose a target such as labeling safe/unsafe websites.

Labeling Safe/Unsafe Websites

Step 1: Select the websites that you want to practice with your child to label as safe or unsafe. For example, you can choose the target of labeling safe/unsafe websites while working on the short-term goal of labeling safe/unsafe situations on the internet. Select 2 pictures as follows: a screenshot of the PBS kids website and a screenshot of a website you do not want your child to be on, such as the regular version of YouTube.

Step 2: An initial/specific discriminative stimulus (SD) should be selected that will cue your child that the task will start. This SD can be a visual SD, such as the screenshot of the PBS kids website, or a verbal SD (“Which one is safe?” or “Which one is unsafe?”).

Step 3: Collect baseline level data by providing the SD from Step 2 and allowing your child to attempt to independently label safe/unsafe websites for which you prompted. The baseline level will vary according to your child and their specific abilities. As an example, you can count how many times in a row they independently label a website as unsafe. Alternatively, you can count how many times they independently label a website as unsafe in a given time interval (e.g., 5 min, 15 min, 30 min, 1 hour, etc.). Once your child can consistently and independently label a website as unsafe you can move to teaching the skill of labeling a website as unsafe within 1 minute.

Step 4: To begin a trial for monitoring progress towards meeting the target (i.e., labeling safe/unsafe websites), provide the SD from Step 2 and allow your child to attempt to label the website as safe or unsafe independently. When your child is successful, provide reinforcement. If the reinforcer for the behavior is a tangible item such as a small snack or a token for a token board ensure that it is provided with a great deal of verbal praise. Ideally, you want your child's positive behaviors to be supported solely by social reinforcement. If the behavior was not displayed, end the trial and provide the appropriate level of prompting on the following trial. For example, you can show your child the screenshot image of regular YouTube and say, “This is unsafe.”

Step 5: Collect data on how your child makes progress. For example, track progress by counting how many times your child is able to independently label a website as unsafe in a given time interval. Alternatively, you can track progress by counting how many times in a row your child can independently label a website as unsafe during a session or over a certain number of sessions.

Step 6: Track how your child makes progress to meet the target of labeling safe/unsafe websites by comparing with either a number threshold or a percentage threshold (necessary to meet the target). For example, you can record the number of successful attempts at labeling safe/unsafe websites over a certain number of sessions, and compare that with the number threshold necessary to meet the target. Alternatively, you can record what percentage of images your child can label as safe/unsafe websites, and compare that with the percentage threshold necessary to meet the target.