What happens when both parents work or need to be gone for a period of time?  Having some safety plans set will be helpful to your son or daughter.  Below are some suggestions for helping a “latch key” child.

• Making Your Home Secure:

o        A dog can be a good deterrent to predators.

o        Keep a list of phone numbers handy for your student to call in an emergency.

o        Teach your student to use 9-1-1, and in an emergency to actually feel confident that it is okay to use it.

o        Teach your student to always lock the doors when coming and going.

o        Teach your student to escape through windows (actually practice this) and what their options are in an emergency.

o        Teach your student where to go in case of severe weather or a terrorist attack (safest place in the house)

o        Have a snack ready or one they can prepare when they get home. 

o        Discuss appropriate things they can do at home alone, i.e., read, homework, Nintendo, etc.

o        Can your student utilize an alarm system?

o        Should your student be answering the door?

o        Should your student answer the telephone?  We use Caller I.D., so our student can monitor who is calling.

o        Monitor their progress.  Be a spy!

·      Develop a “Safety Network”:

o        Incorporate your neighbors, friends, RISD staff, and co-works at job/volunteer placements.  Always have someone on the receiving end of wherever your student is going.

o        Make arrangements with at least two neighbors that your student can go to if they are unable to get into their home.  Periodically remind him/her that it is still okay to use your neighbors as a resource if they get into a difficult situation. 

o        Let neighbors know if your student’s or your schedule changes.  Theirs may change as well.

o        Be accountable to people in your student’s safety net.  Report to their teacher in the morning if they are not going to be in school that day.

o        If something does not seem right to your student, encourage him/her to communicate it to you, a neighbor, a friend, RISD staff, etc.

o        Carry your safety net’s phone numbers with you.

·       School Bus Safety:

o        Ask your school bus driver to wait until your student is in the door before leaving.  Advise them that you may not be there when your student arrives home.

o       Sign a release for the bus department every year that instructs them that in the event your student cannot get into the house, they can release your student to your neighbors.  List your neighbors’ names, addresses, and telephone numbers.  Not having this signed may result your student in being returned to the bus department and after hours to the police station for their protection.

·      Other Travel Safety:

o        Your student will become familiar with where they are going and how they get there.  They will also become familiar with time.  Encourage them to let you know if something does not seem right.

o        Your student, especially if they are out in the community, can benefit greatly from a cell phone, pay phone, and a calling card.  Teach them to memorize their emergency numbers. 

o        Have your student call you when they get to their destination and again when they get home.

o        Nonverbal students need to utilize tools to help them communicate in public, i.e., note cards, Talktrac, etc.

o        Make sure your student attends any safety meetings they can to learn about stranger danger and being alone at home or in the community

·        Secure Personal Items to Student:

o        You can use a permanent marker to identify your student’s belongings.  This can help with recovery of lost items.

o        Purses, backpacks, and pockets.  A house key can be secured with a necklace, soft cord, or chain.  A wallet can be secured with a chain that loops around their belt buckle (which we found at Hot Topics at Town East Mall).

Additional Community Safety Issues:

·      Dart Paratransit:

o        Make sure that you add any information to the manifest to assist your driver in locating drop off/pickup location.  Have the scheduler read it back.

o        Have your student carry a description of the destination so they can show the driver if they are at the wrong place.

o        Have your student call you upon arriving at destination.

o        An attendant can ride with the student for free.  You have the option to assist with your student’s training on where they are going.

o        Paratransit is not 100 percent reliable, timely, and accurate in going to correct locations.  Your student needs to have access to a contact who can assist with problem solving.

o        Paratransit may show up at the wrong location to pick up your student, or the driver could even think they were already there but weren’t, (oops!J).  Make sure you have good communication with your student so if it goes past their pickup time, your student can contact you so you can jump right on it and get it resolved with Paratransit authorities.  Paratransit has been good about turning around and going back to get our student (in most cases).  Note:  If your student receives 3 no-shows in a month, their rider privileges may be suspended.

·         In the Community Personal Safety Training:

At our student’s last Person Centered Plan meeting, personal safety issues in the community were discussed in depth.  As a result of the discussion, this semester our teacher began working to develop an actual staged scenario that our student will not know about ahead of time to test him on what he would do in a “stranger danger” situation.  This is also training that you can develop through your student’s Person Centered Plan.  Our teacher has broken this down to four stages:

o        Social stories, examples below.

o        Scenarios

o        Role playing

o        Pre-set situations

Social stories examples are as follows:

KEEPING MY MONEY SAFE

When I have money, I need to always carry it in my wallet.

When I am paying for something, I need to make sure I get the correct change back.

When I get the change back, I need to put it back in my wallet.

If anyone asks me for money or wants me to buy them something, I need to tell them ‘No’.  I don’t give money to strangers, and I don’t buy things for strangers.

IF I GET LOST

When I am at the mall and get lost, I can go to the information booth in the center of the mall near the food court and ask for directions.

I can also ask an employee in the store that I am in for help too.

It is important to ask for help when I don’t know where to go or what to do.  I won’t be able to stand around if I am lost because other people won’t know that I am lost.

Because it is hard for people to understand what I am saying, I need to give them my information card and tell them what I need.