Fire and burn safety at home
Supporting safety
Talking about safety
Teens and young adults want to be independent. They strive to learn about their world
and take control of their lives, but safety is everybody’s responsibility. If you have
not talked about safety recently, use these questions or statements to introduce new
topics or behaviors for home safety:

“It’s been a while since we practiced our home safety or fire escape plan. Why
don’t we take a few minutes to remember what to do?”

“When I was at the store, I bought a new can opener (or other product). How about
we both learn how to use it?”

“I was talking with (family or friend’s name) and their young adult (name) is
learning how to use the microwave (or other product) safely. When you are ready,
I can show you how to do this too.”

“You’re growing up fast. I’ve watched how well you are using the dishwasher (or
doing another behavior). I’d like to help you learn some other skills so that you can
be safe.”

“We already have rules or a plan of action for (name the behavior). What we need
to talk about is this (safety behavior).”

“I love you and am concerned about your safety. We need to talk about how to do
(behavior) safely.”
Talk isn’t cheap…
...it’s priceless.
Keep talking about safety. Safety is everybody’s business.
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Fire and burn safety at home
Supporting safety
Preparing for safety
Young adult:
 Am I ready physically and emotionally for this responsibility?
 How well am I able handle tasks that are not routine?
 Have I already practiced this skill? How much more practice may be needed to
make it part of my routine?
 Do I have the skills to learn the problem solving, predicting and sequencing to do
this behavior in the order needed?
 Are there other behaviors that need time and practice first, before I am ready for
these new behaviors?
 How will I react if I have trouble learning these new safety skills? What do I need to
do to prepare myself if I get frustrated while learning or practicing these skills?
Parent:
 What can I do to maximize success during practice? What safe guards can be put
into place for protection?
 How can I best support positive behavior if something doesn’t go well? What kind of
back up plan is in place so that we feel comfortable while practicing these
behaviors together?
 How can I use prompts, reinforcement or role play effectively? How can I use other
positive behavior techniques as he or she starts the behavior, responds to each
step or finishes the task?
 Are there financial issues that need to be considered?
 Do I have the positive attitude, sense of humor, patience and persistence to work
on this behavior with my child?
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Fire and burn safety at home
Supporting safety
Practicing safety skills takes time and encouragement
To build safety skills for safe living, have an action plan.
Talking about safety may not be a priority for your
teenager or young adult. He or she may also not be
aware of your concerns. Safety skills take time to
develop. Some lessons may take a few minutes but
need a lifetime of reinforcement.
Here are ways to reinforce safety behaviors:
1. Use prompts: Cues or signals that help someone to
learn a skill or behavior. They ask the person to pay
attention and respond. Prompts should be specific,
such as, “Turn on cold water first, and then add
warm water when washing hands to avoid getting
burned.”
Teach the new behavior slowly so he or she has time to
process the behavior. Some young adults learn best by
starting with the first step or two and mastering
them. The other person does the rest of the steps. Over
time, more steps are added until the young adult can do
all of the steps him or herself.
Another way to use prompts is to teach behaviors in
reverse. All of the steps for a safety behavior are done
by one person and then the young adult completes the
last step. Over time, the young adult learns the last two
steps, and then the last 3 steps, until all steps are
learned. Prompts are needed until the task is mastered.
paths to safety
Patience. Patience. Patience.
Work to view my autism as a
different ability, not a disability.
—Ellen Notbohm
Ten Things Every Child with Autism
Wishes You Knew
2. Use positive reinforcement: Keep building motivation for the skill or behavior being
learned. Give positive rewards for behavior that are done correctly and in the correct
order. Learning the sequence for a behavior is very important. For example, in the event
of a fire, your young adult needs to know to get out of the home first, and then call 911.
Correct mistakes early in the learning process. The young adult may or may not master
the entire task.
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Fire and burn safety at home
3 . Use role playing: Reinforce specific steps of a behavior by taking turns
practicing the skill. Break each behavior into a series of steps or tasks. This
can be done by the young adult observing other people doing the skill first,
before trying it him or herself. Role playing builds confidence while learn
safety skills.
How to wash dishes without getting burned
Washing dishes is an example of how simple tasks can have a number of
steps to be completed. This workbook highlights many safety skills, and
encourages the guidance of parents to best meet their young adults’ needs.
1. Plug the drain.
2. Squirt soap into the sink.
3. Turn on the faucet to add cold water to the sink.
4. Slowly add warm water to the sink and turn off faucet
when the sink is about 1/4 full.
5. Wash silverware and drinking glasses first by putting
them into the soapy water.
6. Use the sponge or cloth to wash the items.
7. Turn on the faucet starting with cold water, adding
warm water to rinse the item.
8. Place items into a drying rack or dry with a clean
towel.
9. Go back to step 5 to 8 to wash plates, and then pots
and pans.
10. Place the dry items back into the cupboard.
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Fire and burn safety at home
Support safety
Have a plan when talking about safety
Create a plan of action for the safety skills or behaviors specific to the young adult who
is learning. Consider how her or she learns best and work to their strengths. Use these
tips:
 Have clear expectations. Young adults may not recognize unhealthy or unsafe
conditions. Learning to anticipate when safety is a concern can be a challenge. Be
realistic with ability to learn and practice safety behaviors.
 Set aside 10 to15 minutes to introduce the topic. Focus on the most important
skills or behavior first. Plan to repeat these sessions over several days or weeks.
Each session is a stepping stone toward independence.
 If there are fears of injury or the young adult has been injured in the past, you may
need to desensitize him or her to the topic first. Young adults with sensitivity to light,
touch, or sound may need extra support. Special safety products can be bought,
such as smoke alarms that use voice recording instead of an alarm. Have products
available when talking about safety to encourage safety behavior.
 When teaching about safety, identify and label each step in the behavior
process. For example, when teaching how to avoid hot water scalds, practice
turning on the cold water first and then adding warm water.
 Engage multiple senses, such as seeing, hearing, touch, and smell, to teach
about safety. Use visual and sound cues, and practice how the behavior or skill
feels, if appropriate. Each sensory cue strengthens the learning process.
 Use supportive communication. Use encouraging statements and reinforcement
to balance correction when teaching or practicing safety behaviors.
 Look and listen for changes in attention during safety lessons. It takes time to
process new safety information. Reinforce information and practice if the young
adult gets stuck on a step in the process.
 Work with local resources, such as a fire department, to learn about safety with
others. Some messages may be better received coming from safety personnel.
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