It is important for children to learn safety skills, especially involving dangerous stimuli such as medicine that can be found in almost every household. This study examined a generalization-enhanced behavioral skills training package to teach children with autism poison safety skills. Three children ages 4- to 10-years-old received generalization…

While abduction remains a rare occurrence in the United States, many parents and caregivers have concerns about children's reactions to strangers and other safety-related behaviors. Abduction is a risk for all children, but may be of specific concern for people with disabilities due to social skill and communication deficits. Behavior analytic…

Child media use with young children has become a more common occurrence in daily life, with parents overseeing the child's media use. During the 2020-22 COVID-19 pandemic, as parents experienced higher levels of stress, child media use increased (Hartshorne et al., 2021). To frame parents' experience of managing children's media use during the…

Background: The restraining of children is a pervasive but controversial practice that has resulted in the injury and death of children. Despite this threat of harm, little research has explored what factors contribute to the risk of a child becoming injured during a restraint event. Objective: This study examined multiple child and restraint…

Background: In an age where technology is pervasive, parents may find it difficult to educate their children in a healthy use of digital devices. Objective: In this preliminary study, we explore the potential value of an online Parent Training (PT) based on Self-Determination Theory (SDT) in fostering parents' ability to regulate their children's…

Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) is a joint child and parent psychotherapy model for children experiencing significant emotional and behavioral difficulties due to traumatic life experiences. Treatment includes trauma-sensitive, family-based interventions focusing on cognitive behavioral patterns, which are the connections…

Alarmingly, nearly half of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) engage in behaviour that causes separation from caregivers. More than half of these children go missing for a concerning duration of time and/or enter into dangerous situations. Caregivers often do not feel prepared to address these serious concerns. This study evaluated the…

Annually, thousands of infant deaths are classified as sudden unexpected infant deaths (SUIDs). In an effort to reduce the risk of SUIDs, the American Academy of Pediatrics has made a number of recommendations to educate caregivers, childcare providers, and healthcare professionals on safe infant sleep practices. The purpose of the current study…

The prevention of elopement is clearly a high priority for teachers, parents, and administrators. The dangers of elopement are well documented, and according to one study, more than half of the children with autism were reported to engage in elopement, with a substantial risk for bodily harm (Anderson et al., 2012). Moreover, children who elope or…

Children have been taught to demonstrate a safety response when they encounter a dangerous stimulus using behavioral skills training (BST). However, little research has evaluated the usefulness of BST to teach safety skills to children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In the current study, we evaluated BST to establish a generalized repertoire…

Previous research has demonstrated the efficacy of behavioral skills training (BST) and in situ training (IST) for teaching children to protect themselves. However, BST may be resource intensive and difficult to implement on a large scale. We evaluated a computerized version of BST (CBST) to teach safety skills and determined the extent to which…

The Positive Behavior Support Team at Madison Metropolitan School District (Wisconsin) provides consultation and wrap-around services for students who exhibit significant physical or sexual aggression. Several members of the team received training in the Three Pillars of TraumaWise Care curriculum from Reclaiming Youth International. This article…

Five years ago, Excelsior Springs (MO) Middle School set a new vision for its future. That marked the beginning of the school's work as a professional learning community (PLC) and has changed its focus and how it measures success. One component of Excelsior Springs's vision is safety: "developing and maintaining a welcoming, orderly, and…

Nearly all children receive abduction prevention training. Most traditional education programs increase the learner's knowledge, but often fail to produce concomitant behavior change. Behavioral Skills Training (BST) is a multi-component, behavior-based training strategy with empirical support demonstrating its effectiveness in teaching children…

Three children with autism were taught abduction-prevention skills using behavioral skills training with in situ feedback. All children acquired the skills, which were maintained at a 1-month follow-up assessment. In addition, 1 of the children demonstrated the skills during a stimulus generalization probe in a community setting. (Contains 1…