Need suggestions for appts. for ASD kids

[Earstou]

Help! It's always a struggle to go to doctor appointments and dentist appointments. I took my ds in for an annual checkup Tuesday and all was well (because I had worked at preparing him) until he found out he needed shots (which I didn't know). At 12, I didn't think he would be yelling and hiding in the corner, but he did. He now does not remember any of this!
Up until the shots, it was the best appt. we've ever had. But it seems like there is always something that triggers him.
I was upset because the nurses wouldn't give him time to calm down, because they needed the room for someone else. So three of them ended up working on him and holding him. I'm upset at the way they handled him. The doctor was great, but he had left before this happened.
We have a dentist appt. in 3 weeks, which is long overdue, because he is even worse there!
How do you parents of ASD kids handle appts.? Any suggestions would be helpful.

 

[3kidsmommy]

Hi there. For my verbal autistic son, Chandler, we always call ahead, find out exactly what they are going to do, in which order, and then make a social story. The kicker is you have to have a good doc's staff who is willing to work with you on this. Luckily, after I educated mine, they are. Because Chandler has such huge issues with tactile defensiveness, the dentist is always a meltdown period. We found a dentist who specializes in special needs people and she is wonderful. She will use gas on the child if he or she is really fearful, and that always help Chandler actually enjoy being there. She explains everything and sends her own social story prior to Chandler going every 6 months. I would suggest calling your doc's office as well and leaving a message for the doctor to call you. He needs to know how the nurses handled the situation, because frankly, that was ridiculous. If this was a typical 12 year old child, sure...but your child is NOT. Poor baby, I sure hope he isn't terrified to ever go again. Hang in there!

 

[SueM in MN]

If this was a typical 12 year old child, sure...but your child is NOT. Poor baby, I sure hope he isn't terrified to ever go again. Hang in there!

Not even acceptable if he was a typical 12 year old.
In the past, when I was a Public Health Nurse, I gave lots of shots during different immunization clinics. Sometimes we dealt with people who were really upset or scared. A baby or possibly a can be held down, get it done as quickly as possible and then let the mom comfort the child.
Anyone older than toddler, if they were struggling that much, I would not give the immunization shot at that time. Too much risk of someone getting hurt. Whether or not the room was needed; the needs of the person who was in the room (your DS), were more important than getting the room emptied.
Perhaps, they were worried that if your DS did not get the shot that day, he would not come back to get it on another day, but this way, he is going to be really distrustful about any contacts with Health care people in the future.
For anyone else who wonders if their child needs any vaccines, if you have a record of the ones they have received, you would be able to figure out what is needed. Here a link to the Centers for Disease Control website Immkunization schedule page for 2005.

Pixie dust to your son.

 

[itsagloomyday]

It sounds like you have your son as prepared as possible. Even with the best preparation, there always seems to be something unusual thrown into our ASD kids' appointments.

I promised my 10 year old ASD son "no sticky things" (blood draws/shots for him) on our last appointment. Out of the blue, the doctor decides they want to draw blood. We left with the order, but with the clear understanding that the blood draw would not be done that day. (It wasn't anything emergent.) We went back to the hospital the next day to have the labs done. I stuck to my promise and we both had a full day to prepare. While this is not always possible, it worked that time for us.

Good luck! I'm not sure with our ASD kids that things ever get any easier.

 

[3kidsmommy]

Not even acceptable if he was a typical 12 year old.

Oh, please don't get me wrong, I would be livid if anyone ever treated any of my children that way...however, I could understand if the staff expected more grown up behavior out of a typical 12 year old. That is all I was saying. Still, YES, I agree the child's comfort is by far more important than clearing out a room.

 

[SueM in MN]

Oh, please don't get me wrong, I would be livid if anyone ever treated any of my children that way...however, I could understand if the staff expected more grown up behavior out of a typical 12 year old. That is all I was saying. Still, YES, I agree the child's comfort is by far more important than clearing out a room.

I wasn't saying anything wrong about your comment, just trying to make a comment that I would not expect that treatment for anyone older than a toddler (and even then, it might not be appropriate).
So we agree on that.

 

[3kidsmommy]

Just wanted to make sure you knew that I agreed with you 110%!!! Have a great day.

 

[Earstou]

She will use gas on the child if he or she is really fearful, and that always help Chandler actually enjoy being there. She explains everything and sends her own social story prior to Chandler going every 6 months.

We were going to a pediatric dentist, he gave my son gas one time, and when my son came out, he was acting strange and wouldn't talk for over an hour afterwards. It really freaked me out, and the office didn't seem to care about it. So I've always worried about using gas, even though that was a few years ago. Has anyone else had a similar experience?
They changed his dental assistant, and things went to pot. She would yell, because my ds would kick his feet (while lying in the chair) and I complained about her because she made things 10 times worse. The next time I came in, I was informed that I should have advised the staff that my child was violent!?! (She had made up some story to get back at me reporting her.) So when the dentist worked on him, he kept asking me over and over if he was being professional??? He was also very short with my son. Didn't help the dentist's temper any when my son saw the radiation warning symbol on the xray machine and I really had to work with him to get xrays!
So I ended up losing this dentist because I complained about staff, and I worry I may sour the relationship with this doctor. Since these kids hate change so much, my ds never wants to change doctor or dentist.
Our school did one social story for him, when I had my surgery for my brain malformation, and he thought it was really stupid! He didn't even want to look at it because of the cartoon type drawings on it. He has an aversion to characters designed for children (?), also costumed characters. So the social stories don't work for him, unfortunately!
It seems when I have called ahead of time, things end up being completely different then what I was told they would be, so it seems like I lose every time
Sorry to whine so much today, but it's been raining alot here, and I'm frustrated with this, his school problems and my own health issues. I need some sunshine!!!

 

[cymomtx]

The first couple of times we took my son to the dentist, he prescribed a compounded liquid I believe it was demerol mixed with something. It was just enough that allowed my son to relax and let the dentist do the work.

 

[Nik's Mom]

We have an excellent dentist who has experience with autistic children. We just lucked out when we found him. He slowly gets ds to do more and more each time. When it comes time for more in depth dental work, the dentist said he will knock him out (my words, not his). He said it is mild, so side effects are not like the old days. Although, I guess side effects are always possible.