Preventing Injuries in Children with Autism (online)

Presented by Children’s Safety Network

Preventing Injuries in Children with Autism

Tuesday, Jul 23 2024, from 11 AM – 12 PM PST

Online

Register at LINK HERE

For more information, see LINK

The summer months bring new considerations for child safety, such as taking precautions for heat exposure, drowning, and playground safety. For children with autism, the risk of injury is often exponentially larger than the neurotypical population. Children with autism’s risk of drowning is 160 times higher (Guan & Li, 2017), which coupled with an increase in wandering and elopement, and communication challenges for non-verbal children, creates the need for additional considerations in preventing injuries.

In this webinar, Sarah Tinker, Ph.D. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or CDC) will present an overview of autism spectrum disorder in U.S. children, including why they may be at increased risk for injuries.  Shericka Harris, MSPH (CDC) will describe unintentional drowning deaths in the U.S. among children and adolescents where autism was identified as a contributing cause of death.

Jiabin Shen, Ph.D., and Yan Wang, Ph.D. (University of Massachusetts Lowell or UML) will present their population-based research that investigates disparities in injury and injury-related medical service utilization in children with autism using 22 years of data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). The findings offer scientists, clinicians, and policymakers evidence-based data to inform development of tailored injury prevention programs for children with autism. They may also contribute to improvement of healthcare services and delivery of care for children with autism in the U.S. CSN-A member Judy Qualters, Ph.D. (CDC) will moderate the webinar.

Boy, girl and playing with bubbles outdoor in garden, backyard or park with happiness, family or siblings. Children, soap bubble game and playful in childhood, youth and summer sunshine on holiday