Kids love being outdoors and may walk to school or go to the store regularly. If you have a child with learning disabilities, it is a good idea to go outside together and go through some basic safety rules on the street:

1. Be sure your kids know how to read the colors on stoplights properly and when and where it is safe to cross the street. Emphasize that crossing in the middle of the street between corners is not allowed, in fact it is against the law most everywhere.

Tell you kids that no 'jay walking' is a rule for a number of reasons, amongst them, cars are looking for pedestrians crossing at corners only, and may be driving along so fast they could not even stop in time if they saw someone. It is really, really important to teach kids this safety rule.

If your child does not seem to have learned this always keep them firmly in hand when on the street to avoid nonchalant wandering into the road.

2. Since we're talking about street safety issues have them learn the rule for crossing the street: STOP, LOOK & LISTEN. That means to stop on the sidewalk completely still, look to the right, look to the left, listen for oncoming traffic, and then look one more time before crossing.

I added in that last note about looking one last time from my experience, because after the listening part a car could be coming around the corner or down the street quickly.

3. DO NOT GO WITH STRANGERS. Now, that is a big lesson for all kids to learn. And, be very sure that your children know not to trust a stranger who takes their hand or lures them with candy or other gifts.

Do a little practice session with your children to teach them how to react if a stranger approaches them and tries to start up a conversation, or tries to grab them: Tell your kids to yell as loud as they can: HELP, HELP, HELP, HELP, and to run away from the person.

Remind your kids to always play with a buddy, to only play in a familiar place where other people are present, and not to walk alone to school or the store. As parents we need to do everything we can so our kids will play safely when not under our direct gaze!

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Article by Susan Kramer