Methods For Teaching Stranger Danger to Children With Disabilities
Social Stories
Social stories are a great way to teach children with learning disabilities how to behave in various social settings. These stories can teach students who are learning disabled how to act at school, home or at the store. They can show students ways to correct improper behavior such as hitting or using foul language. They also teach students why it is important for them to have good hygiene or how to play a game.
That is why using social stories is a popular method for teaching stranger danger to children with disabilities. Encounters that can be dangerous should be told in the story along with pictures. Consequences should be presented as well as ways to handle an encounter.
Teachers or parents can construct their own social story. If they are computer savvy the graphics for the story can be created on the computer. If they are not sure how to do this they can use paper and just draw. One sentence should be written under each picture. Keep the story brief and to the point.
Once the story is constructed the student with learning disabilities can go over it with a teacher or parent. It should be read frequently so that the child will learn the story and not forget. Questions about the content can also be asked.
Videos
Using videos is another popular method for teaching stranger danger to children with disabilities. They can be effective in teaching learning disabled students how to act in different social situations. There are videos that are specifically designed to teach stranger danger. These videos can be shown to children with disabilities and then discussed. The children can summarize what the video was about, talk about the things that they learned in the video or answer questions. The discussion is an important part of the process because it is important to make sure the children understand what they viewed.
Reenact Scenes About Stranger Danger
Acting can also be used when teaching stranger danger to children with disabilities. By having these children act out scenes about the dangers of talking to strangers they can experience it. Children with learning disabilities should use different settings so that they do not generalize the danger to one place. The settings can include walking home from school, waiting at the bus stop and playing in the park. These students may also need to learn who they can trust and who they cannot trust. Having different characters and scenarios in the reenactments can teach them this. The children can reenact scenes themselves or use puppets.
Make Them Aware of Internet Predators
In today’s society children are exposed to the Internet on a daily basis. It is important to teach children that when they meet someone online for the first time they are meeting a stranger. Even if the other person online claims to be a child, the person should not be trusted. There are Internet predators that lie about their identity online for the purpose of meeting children. It is essential to teach them about the potential dangers of meeting people online. Social stories, videos and reenactments are all viable methods to teach children about stranger danger in person and online.
