The Effectiveness of Behavioral Skills Training (BST) Program to Improve Personal Safety Skills for Down syndrome Adolescent with Mild Intellectual Disability

Kumalasari et al. (2018) worked with one teen who has Down syndrome and mild intellectual disability.

They used Behavioral Skills Training (BST) to teach five personal safety skills.

The skills were saying no, stepping away, yelling, telling an adult, and reporting details.

Four of the five skills reached full mastery.

The overall mastery score was 97 percent.

The reporting skill stayed lower at 83 percent, so it needed extra practice.

McGonigle et al. (2014) also used BST to teach fire safety to three typical teens. Both studies got big gains, showing BST works for different safety topics and different learners.

Chovet Santa Cruz et al. (2024) moved BST online and taught gaming safety to younger kids. Their remote method worked too, so you can pick in-person or telehealth based on your setting.

Ivancic et al. (1981) taught fire escape to young children decades earlier. The new study mirrors that success with older youth and a new domain, proving BST keeps its punch over time.

You can run the same four-step BST package—instruction, model, practice, feedback—to teach safety to teens with Down syndrome. Expect fast gains, but plan extra trials for the reporting step. If you can’t meet in person, the Chovet Santa Cruz and DeFriedman et al. (2025) papers show telehealth BST works just as well. Start Monday by picking one safety skill, modeling it, and giving five quick practice rounds with praise for correct responses.