Preparing Our Teens for Emergencies

It seems there’s a natural disaster every day. This makes it vitally important to teach our teens with special needs how to prepare for and react to an emergency as part of their transition skills for adult living.

Help on the Web

The U.S. government provides a valuable website at Ready.gov for any emergency that happens across the country. Whether you’re preparing for a flood, earthquake, hurricane, tornado, or other disaster, they have an impressive array of resources to help students create emergency kits, first aid kits, and learn how to turn off appliances and gas.

Additionally, this same website provides students with forms to explore what resources they’ll need to accommodate their disabilities, and outlines to help them create family disaster plans.

Create a Plan

Use the website here to make a Family Communication Plan for use during a disaster: https://www.ready.gov/sites/default/files/2019-06/family_communications_plan_parents.pdf

This plan will help students coordinate where to meet, who to call, and where to go for help. It will help the family know, in advance, what to do in case of an emergency.

Or, try Emergency Preparedness

Emergency Preparedness from Daily Living Skills takes the information provided on the Ready.gov website, streamlines it, makes it easier to read, and makes it more accessible to teens with special needs. With language geared to our student’s reading and comprehension level and a format that allows students a step-by-step approach to emergency preparedness, this book is a one-stop shop for these vital skills.

Like all books in the Daily Living Skills series, Emergency Preparedness is written on a 3rd/4th grade reading level with light, airy pages and generous illustrations. It meets federal mandates for transition services, Indicator 13 requirements and SCANS recommendations. Workbooks contain an answer guide and Parent Letter to meet family involvement guidelines. The Teacher’s Manual includes IEP goals, federal standards met by each book, pre/post assessments, and more.

Find it here.