The use of behavioral skills training and in situ feedback to protect children with autism from abduction lures.

Three children with autism took part.

A trainer first used Behavioral Skills Training: explain, model, practice, praise.

Next, parents gave in-situ feedback during real-life lure drills at stores and parks.

The team tracked whether each child still walked away with a stranger.

Every child learned to say “No,” walk away, and tell a trusted adult.

The safety moves stayed strong weeks later without extra lessons.

Even when the stranger first asked for help finding a lost puppy, the kids still refused.

Miltenberger et al. (2013) showed a safety DVD did nothing until parents added in-situ training.

Joosten et al. (2009) found the same pattern two years earlier.

Together the three papers say the same thing: videos and lectures fail; real-time feedback works.

Novotny et al. (2023) later moved the same BST-plus-feedback package online for firearm safety and still saw gains, proving parents can run it without a clinic.

You can dump long slide shows and pricey kits.

Teach the parents the four BST steps in one short meeting.

Then send them to practice at the grocery store, playground, or front yard.

Check performance during your next outing and praise correct responses.

The whole package takes hours, not weeks, and it keeps kids with autism safer today.