Teaching Safety Skills: A Conversation with Parents of Children with Special Needs

As parents, we all want the same things for our children. We want them to be safe. We want them to be happy. And we want them to achieve the greatest degree of independence possible in their lives. This presentation will address the first of these shared goals – which is ensuring our children are safe.

In this conversation, we will work toward the following objectives:

• Outline common safety concerns and describe why individuals with special needs may be more at risk.
• Share research examples supporting teaching strategies and environmental supports that have been proven to be successful in reducing the likelihood of accidents.
• Suggest simple “to dos” for the home environment to increase safety.
• Describe how parents can incorporate basic safety skills teaching at home.
• Suggest school-based skills that can be folded into the daily curriculum and/or included as unique objectives.

This session will be led by Jennifer Connelly, MS, BCBA: Head of School/Consultant - NYC Autism Charter Schools, Founder/Owner - New Canaan Candy Company

Jennifer spent the first eight years of her career delivering behavioral intervention to individuals with autism at NYC Autism Charter Schools and in private practice. Upon leaving New York as the schools’ Director of Education, she worked with the DeafBlind population at Perkins School for the Blind, provided consultation to public school programs across Massachusetts, and continued writing a more robust curriculum to meet the needs of students at NYC Autism Charter Schools. In 2016, Jennifer returned to the tri-state area to serve as the founding Head of School at NYC Autism Charter School Bronx.

Upon stepping into a consultant role in 2020, Jennifer has led staff development and supervision at NYCACS while working privately with families in the tri-state area to conduct educational evaluations leading to school and home program recommendations.

Currently, Jennifer is working on a new business venture, New Canaan Candy Company, whose mission is to employ adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.