Emergencies are inherently impossible to predict, but that doesn't mean you can't be prepared for them. For parents of children with autism, thinking ahead to dangerous situations isn't just smart, it's essential. From scent kits to safe places, use these three pointers to give your son or daughter the tools they need to be okay.

How Parents of Children With Autism Can Practice Emergency Preparedness

1. Introduce Them in Advance

Children with autism tend to be most comfortable when they're familiar with a situation and mentally prepared for likely outcomes. If your child is ever involved in an emergency, they might need to interact with first responders, like firefighters or paramedics. 

To ensure your child knows these professionals can be trusted, show them videos or read them books depicting first responders, so they start to develop a mental log of their appearance and purpose. If possible, take them to meet a first responder in person, so they can look in their eyes, shake their hand, and feel even more comfortable in their presence.

2. Emphasize Safe Places

In a moment of panic, it’s important that your child knows where they can go to find safety. Therefore, start familiarizing them with particular places for different emergencies. 

For example, if there's a house fire, you’ll want your child’s first thought to be to head outside and wait at the mailbox by the street. If they hear a tornado alarm, you’ll want them to know to grab the radio and go down to the basement. Many parents of children with autism choose to record their own voices as “alarms,” reminding their son or daughter where to go or what to do in an emergency. 

3. Set Up a Scent Kit

Children with autism are more prone to wandering off, often to seek peace and quiet or a sense of familiarity. Therefore, during an emergency, the likelihood of wandering increases. 

If your child were to get lost, having a scent kit prepared in advance helps K9 responders bring them home fast. These kits provide a way for families and caregivers to pre-collect a child’s unique scent, which is then given to K9 teams in the event they go missing. Unlike a T-shirt that’s been sitting in the hamper for two days, an uncontaminated scent sample is far stronger and more reliable when searching for missing persons.

To prepare a scent kit for your child, turn to Scent Evidence K9. This nationwide supplier of safety products is run by a former FBI Forensic Canine Operations Specialist, so you can rest assured you’re getting high-quality, life-saving products. From California to New York to Florida, these innovative kits help loved ones and caregivers of people with autism, dementia, and Alzheimer’s gain peace of mind. To learn more about scent kits and how they work, visit the company online. Call (850) 272-6950 to speak with a friendly representative.