Teaching help-seeking when lost to individuals with autism spectrum disorder

Deficits in safety skills and communication deficits place individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at an increased risk of danger. We used a multiple-probe across-participants design to evaluate the effects of video modeling and programming common stimuli to teach low- and high-tech help-seeking responses to children with ASD when lost. Participants acquired answering or making a FaceTime^® call and exchanging an identification card in contrived and natural settings. Responses generalized to novel community settings and maintained during a one- and two-week follow-up. Social validity measures showed that the procedures and outcomes of the study were acceptable to indirect and direct consumers, and immediate and extended community members. Implications are that children with ASD can effectively be taught both low- and high-tech help-seeking responses when lost.