title: Teaching children with autism to seek help when lost in public.
abstract: Children with autism may not develop safety skills (e.g., help-seeking behaviors) without explicit teaching. One potentially hazardous situation is when a child with autism becomes separated from caregivers in a retail establishment or other public setting. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a treatment package (rules, role playing, and praise) delivered in the natural environment for teaching 3 boys with autism to seek assistance from store employees when they became lost. Treatment was effective, and help-seeking behaviors generalized to untrained stores for all participants.
authors.affiliation: Center for Autism and Related Disorders, INC.
authors.forename: Ryan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bergstrom
authors.forename: Adel C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Najdowski
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tarbox
mesh_terms: D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D002648:Child; D006379:Helping Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods*