Teaching children how to identify dangerous situations and how to make the right decisions can be challenging. Teaching these to a child with autism is even more challenging. My son, as well as many other autistic children, do not have a sense of danger. They have no fear for anything. My son learns about danger and getting hurt by experiencing it.
An example of this is something that occurred this week. My son had a swimming lesson and my husband took him. The children needed to jump into the pool. My son would not, so my husband pushed him into it. Now, he is afraid of standing at the pool or trying to jump in. He is not afraid of the pool itself. He will get in on his own, but he has learned that he if someone is standing next to him, he will be pushed in.
This is typical of how my son learns. He will not know that something will hurt him unless he has experienced it for himself. I was sent the Safety Tots learning DVD from Smart Kids Software to review. I was looking forward to it and immediately began using it with my son and daughter. This DVD is a series of cartoon scenarios that illustrate dangerous situations and has the child choose what actions should be taken for each situation. It is also entertaining and fun for young children Pre-K to Grade 2.
I think this DVD is a great learning tool for safety. Some of the topics covered were fire safety, electrical safety, pool/water safety. There are many different situations that are covered and they are all presented at a level that a young child can understand. It was interesting to see the answers my children picked. It served to open a line of communication between us in a way that I had not considered. My son still does not understand why some of his choices were wrong, but he knows what he is supposed to do in that situation. I hope, as he gets older, he will begin to understand. My daughter has a better understanding of how to react to different dangerous situations. This DVD has taught them a lot and I hope it will continue to do so.
Recent Comments