A friend of mine linked me to a recently published guide for hospitals and medical service personnel. It describes a number of common pitfalls in established medical practices when they are applied to people with autism.
I have not, in my life, had much occasion to visit the hospital, especially not in regards to my own health. I've never broken a bone despite my inherent clumsiness. But even with my habit of not doing many dangerous things, I suspect that pattern can't hold forever. So I'm glad to see things like this, written by an autistic self-advocate, plainly and clearly, with a series of workable tips and modifications to expectations.
While some of these tips are specific to the emergency room and medical situations, others are just common sense when it comes to dealing with autistic people. For example: "Don't expect eye contact," "speak directly to the autistic person even if they have a family member or helper with them," and "don't discourage stimming unless it's physically hurting someone."
Others are just good tips in a crisis anyway. "Exude calmness" tends to be a wise idea around neurotypical people because panic can spread. But around autistic people, who can be even more sensitive, especially if they're already upset, it's essential. "Speak slowly, in clear sentences," also seems to me to be basic common sense in an emergency. Which isn't to say it'd be easy, just that it would definitely be something to train into your emergency staff, if it isn't already. The same goes for "Explain exactly what you're doing before you do it." When I'm at the dentist's office or the doctor's office, I tend to ask a lot of questions, both as a way to find out what's happening and because it's interesting to me to dip my toes into different parts of human knowledge. And honestly, with some prompting, a lot of people will talk about their specialties and their interests for quite a while.
Many of the remaining tips on the list are specific to autism, though, and I hope you'll read the article for those. The introduction quite rightly points out that even highly verbal, well-blended autistic people may lose their ability to communicate in times of extreme distress. So even if you, or your child, or whoever, communicates well, these are still good tips to keep on hand. Please pass on this article to any emergency services personnel you know. I guarantee that taking these tips to heart will result in a much more pleasant, efficient hospital stay.
I have not, in my life, had much occasion to visit the hospital, especially not in regards to my own health. I've never broken a bone despite my inherent clumsiness. But even with my habit of not doing many dangerous things, I suspect that pattern can't hold forever. So I'm glad to see things like this, written by an autistic self-advocate, plainly and clearly, with a series of workable tips and modifications to expectations.
While some of these tips are specific to the emergency room and medical situations, others are just common sense when it comes to dealing with autistic people. For example: "Don't expect eye contact," "speak directly to the autistic person even if they have a family member or helper with them," and "don't discourage stimming unless it's physically hurting someone."
Others are just good tips in a crisis anyway. "Exude calmness" tends to be a wise idea around neurotypical people because panic can spread. But around autistic people, who can be even more sensitive, especially if they're already upset, it's essential. "Speak slowly, in clear sentences," also seems to me to be basic common sense in an emergency. Which isn't to say it'd be easy, just that it would definitely be something to train into your emergency staff, if it isn't already. The same goes for "Explain exactly what you're doing before you do it." When I'm at the dentist's office or the doctor's office, I tend to ask a lot of questions, both as a way to find out what's happening and because it's interesting to me to dip my toes into different parts of human knowledge. And honestly, with some prompting, a lot of people will talk about their specialties and their interests for quite a while.
Many of the remaining tips on the list are specific to autism, though, and I hope you'll read the article for those. The introduction quite rightly points out that even highly verbal, well-blended autistic people may lose their ability to communicate in times of extreme distress. So even if you, or your child, or whoever, communicates well, these are still good tips to keep on hand. Please pass on this article to any emergency services personnel you know. I guarantee that taking these tips to heart will result in a much more pleasant, efficient hospital stay.
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