Tolerating Medical Appointments

Trips to the doctor or dentist are hard for any kid. They’re especially tough for our learners with autism and other delays. Here, we dive into how to make these experiences easier for these learners and their families. A lot of the kids we work with may need multiple medical procedures, which sometimes creates an avoidance to anyone touching them or coming close. Desensitization to the experience is key, and we need to be careful and gentle. Taking a step-by-step approach to desensitization where the learner gets to call the shots is the goal.

While sedation is often used in these cases, if a kid can learn to tolerate medical appointments on their own, it becomes a free choice, which is much healthier. We break down the desensitization process, beginning with identifying the very first step your learner must take. We also talk about how to help kids feel safer about the experience, the benefits of social exposure through videos and play, how to be a good salesperson about the dentist or doctor, and the importance of modeling when normalizing going to appointments.

What’s Inside:

• A walkthrough of the desensitization process to help learners tolerate appointments.
• Why sedation isn’t an ideal solution to tolerating appointments.
• How modeling helps to normalize going to the doctor and dentist.

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Blog – How To Use Video Modeling
Tolerating Dentist Appointments Task Analysis