Tips On Preparing Your Child With Autism For An Urgent Care Visit

Posted on: 9 May 2017

If you are the parent of a child that has autism, there is a good chance that you want to make sure that he or she is as healthy as possible. This means taking him or her to the doctor when he or she is sick. Your child might be comfortable seeing a particular doctor and allowing that doctor to examine him or her without throwing a fuss. However, your child does not get sick only between the hours of 9 and 5 on weekdays. Your child might get sick on a weekend. If this happens, you might need to take him or her to an urgent care that has operating hours on a weekend. Here are some tips for preparing your child with autism for an urgent care visit.

1. Tell Your Child What to Expect

Most doctor's appointments go the same way. Your child will have his or her breathing listened to with a stethoscope. He or she might have his or her blood pressure checked. If you think that your child has strep and know that he or she is going to be tested for it, talk to your child about the procedure ahead of time. Draw pictures of what is going to happen if your child responds better to visual cues. This will allow your child to prepare him or herself mentally.

2. Bring Toys

You might be in the urgent care waiting room for a bit, especially if it is a busy day. Be sure that you bring toys, books, and other activities that your child can focus on instead of his or her anxiety about the appointment. This will help your child be a lot more calm by the time that he or she actually enters the examining room. See if there is an empty room where your child can wait if the noise and crowd in the waiting room is too much for him or her to handle.

3. Ask the Doctor to Keep Tests to Only Those That Are Necessary

Ask the doctor if he or she could keep the tests that he or she performs to only those that are strictly necessary. If your child was at the doctor two weeks ago, he or she probably doesn't need to be weighed again if you don't see any major changes to his or her body. Keeping the appointment short and the tests to a minimum will reduce the amount of stimuli that your child has to deal with.

For more information, talk to a company that specializes in urgent care.

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