3 Steps for Safeguarding Your Special Needs Child at Play

3 Steps for Safeguarding Your Special Needs Child at Play

Sponsored by www.kidsidtag.com, Rocklin, CA

The parents of special needs children are heroes in every sense of the word. The cape may not always be showing, but you continuously fight to keep your child safe. This task often takes super-human amounts of internal strength and courage. There is a need to create opportunities for expression of individuality, but with an understanding of your child’s special needs.My instinct is to keep her close at hand; but my heart knows she needs to learn to join in play with other children and visit new places with friends, said Sheila Vincent, mother of Asia, PPD-NOS. When parents of special needs children do allow their children to learn through extended play, safeguarding them can still be accomplished.

1. Safe Location

With any child, a safe environment for play is key. This is especially important for the special needs child.On the one hand, we wish to ensure that our children learn the value of being independent, said Keith Barrett, in an article published on E-zines.Creating environments in which safety impedes creativity can defeat the fun experience for which it is intended. Under the close supervision of parents and care givers, a safe play place can be created in a playground, a backyard, or a community location. A resource for the parents of special needs children is the Safe and Sound Initiative created by The Autistic Society of America in 2005. This initiativeprovides much-needed resources to the autism community on topics such as general safety, emergency preparedness and prevention, and risk management. The optimum location provides a safe and comfortable environment for children to engage in peer play and to learn how to socially interact with both special needs and non-special needs children.

2. Safe Activities

In today’s environment of protecting our children, the parents of children learning about independence can pose special concerns. In the NY Times, Julie Blick wrote,Play is the work of all children because it lets them practice new skills, find new interests and develop mentally and physically. For a child with special needs, the right kind of play at the right time is crucial. The right kinds are ones that insure safety. These activities can involve supervised discovery or organized athletics. Community gardens offer great opportunities for play and learning and are contained in a manner to avoid many safety risks to the child. Encouraging exploration and use of imagination can be accomplished with supervision. Many communities have organized activities involving sports teams working with special needs children in team activities including the little league’schallenger division.

3. Safe Identification

Even when the place and the play are carefully planned for the special needs child, accidents do happen. At this point, identification of all vital information is a priority. Selection of identification that does not broadcast adifference can be found.We discovered through a friend an ID that was featured in a health magazine, said Sheila Vincent. Although there are many styles of identification tags available, the tag featured offered many options to consider when making a selection. This tag, from KidsIDTag.com, was designed to be inconspicuous, to hold many lines of info (in this case 6) and to be easily attached to a shoe strap or lace. It is also lightweight to be unnoticed by the child, of durable plastic for wet play, and adorned with colorful graphics that could be selected by the child.We know that children are not always in the care of a parent or caregiver who knows the child’s medical history, said Larry Osborne, owner www.KidsIDTag.com. Information can be tailored to the identification needs of the child and could hold a code that is only known by the parent. When an emergency occurs, time counts and being able to contact someone immediately can be a life saver as well eliminates any possibility of a misdiagnosis.

I wanted a tag that could be with my child when I am not, said Vincent.The ability to have information on Asia that could be easily located in an emergency when she possibly could not speak for herself was important. The selection of designs makes the tag attractive to the child andcool to wear while it is serving a very important function. A custom image also can be supplied when ordering a tag. Taking precautions for safety during play does not only involve the location and the activity, being prepared for an emergency can also safeguard your child.

Safety First.

As parents of special needs children, the need to keep your child safe is an ongoingsuper task. With a few steps, providing the safest play experience does not have to exclude the fun.

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For more information:www.KidsIDTag.com, Larry Osborne 800-204-3327