Guide to sensory-friendly doctor visits for children with autism spectrum disorder

In this article:

• Why doctor's visits are challenging for kids with autism
• Preparing your child for the appointment
• Collaborating with healthcare professionals
• Sensory-friendly waiting room strategies
• During the appointment
• After the appointment
• Additional resources for parents

In this article

• Why doctor's visits are challenging for kids with autism
• Preparing your child for the appointment
• Collaborating with healthcare professionals
• Sensory-friendly waiting room strategies
• During the appointment
• After the appointment
• Additional resources for parents

A doctor’s visit can make just about any kid feel nervous, but it can be especially challenging for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). These children may be easily overwhelmed by the unfamiliar people, locations, and stimuli in the doctor’s office. Planning a sensory-friendly doctor’s visit for children with ASD can help reduce some of the stress and anxiety caused by these unfamiliarities, leading to a smoother experience for everyone.

Why doctor’s visits are challenging for kids with autism

Children diagnosed with autism are often hypersensitive to stimuli such as lights, sounds, touch, and even smells, which can cause anxiety and behavioral issues. They can frequently encounter several of these stimuli during doctors’ appointments (many of which will be completely new to the child), and that can feel overwhelming. Since healthcare professionals may be unaware of your child’s sensory needs, creating a sensory-friendly doctor’s appointment may initially fall on you. 

Preparing your child for the appointment

A little preparation will go a long way to ensure a sensory-friendly experience before, during, and after the appointment. Children with ASD often feel more comfortable when they know what to expect, making preparation key to minimizing anxiety. 

Identifying triggers

You may be aware of your child’s sensory triggers in many situations. However, it may be difficult to predict what may upset your child during a doctor’s visit, especially if you’re visiting a new doctor or office location.

Some common triggers in healthcare facilities include:

• Bright lights (waiting room lights, exam lights)
• Loud, unfamiliar noises (machine noises, the crinkle sound of exam table paper)
• Being touched during an exam
• Cold temperatures
• Unpredictable wait times
• Dentists using toothpaste with an unpleasant texture or flavor

Using tools and techniques for reducing anxiety

Unfamiliar situations are often one of the greatest challenges for children with autism. To reduce your child’s anxiety, familiarize them with the location, sequence of events, and medical objects they might experience during the visit. You may find it helpful to visit the doctor’s office or drive by beforehand. Help your child feel like they have a choice by asking if they’d like to visit the location before their appointment. 

Explaining the visit

Explaining the purpose of the visit may help reduce your child’s anxiety. Although it’s perfectly normal for you to also feel nervous about the visit, you should speak calmly and use positive language during this conversation. Explain what may happen, not what should not happen. If your child senses your nervousness, they may become nervous themselves.

Visual stories are a great way to explain the visit to your child and tell them what to expect. Try to find a visual story specific to the purpose of your child’s visit (e.g., getting a shot). If you use a visual story for a general check-up but the appointment is for a vaccination, your child may become distressed when the doctor unexpectedly pulls out a needle.

Visual schedules provide a structured way for your child to understand the sequence of events during a doctor’s appointment. Before the visit, explain how they should behave during each step of the appointment by giving examples of what the doctor will ask them to do (e.g., open their mouth to have their temperature taken or take a deep breath when being examined by a stethoscope). As part of the visual schedule, you can also try to find photos of the doctor and staff performing the exam.  

Role-playing the visit

Create a mock visit to the doctor’s office by role-playing to help your child become familiar with the equipment the doctor will use during the visit (stethoscope, blood pressure sleeve, thermometer). You can pretend to be the doctor and use either toys or actual medical items to simulate the items the doctor will use during the visit. As with visual stories, it’s best to be as specific as possible to help your child anticipate what to expect during the visit. If you use toys, try to include details about the sensations your child will experience during each step: 

• The stethoscope may be uncomfortably cold.
• The blood pressure sleeve may be uncomfortably tight.
• The doctor may need to shine a very bright light in their eyes.

Unless you’re a medical professional, there’s a limit to what you can perform during role-playing. Let your child know that the exact in-office procedure will be different. 

Emphasizing the benefits of the doctor’s visit

Explain that the current visit will help prevent more invasive appointments in the future. If you’re there to address a specific medical issue, let your child know they’ll feel better after the visit. Ask the doctor to provide a recovery timeline to help your child understand what to expect.

Collaborating with healthcare professionals

Finding the right doctor for your child’s specific needs may be a complex process, but it’s worthwhile, as your child may see the same doctor multiple times for years. Communicating your child’s needs with healthcare professionals is an important step in this process.

Communicating your child’s specific needs

Since each child is unique, it is helpful to email or call the doctor’s office before visiting to explain your child’s specific needs. You can request longer consultation sessions to allow your doctor to explain the procedure to your child and conduct the visit at a slower pace. You may also choose to request a morning appointment to reduce waiting times.

If you’ve had previous success with certain strategies, let your healthcare provider know! The more information your doctor has, the easier it will be for them to understand your child’s specific needs and accommodate them.  

Planning for sensory accommodations

Even in the waiting room, where many things might seem beyond your control, there are steps you can take. Although there’s no guarantee the staff will accommodate every request, you shouldn’t hesitate to ask for accommodations while you wait to see the doctor and during the exam:

• Schedule appointments during less busy times to reduce the number of unfamiliar people in the waiting room.
• Ask if there’s any way you can help with the procedure, such as holding certain medical instruments.
• Request a separate waiting area.
• Request the doctor and nurses to use your child’s preferred method of communication. 
• Ask if the staff can turn the music down or off.
• Ask if the staff can dim the waiting room lights. 

Sensory-friendly waiting room strategies

Despite its potential for stress, with its unpredictability, noise, and harsh lighting, you can still manage the waiting room positively. Even if appointments run over—causing unexpected delays that might upset your child—there are ways to avoid anxiety.

Bringing sensory-friendly waiting room activities or toys

Toys like coloring books and fidget toys can help your child pass the time in the waiting room. Bring activities you can wrap up relatively quickly to make it easier to transition smoothly when it’s time to see the doctor. Focusing on easy-to-finish activities can also prevent frustration and help maintain a calm environment.

Minimizing overstimulation

While you can’t control everything at the doctor’s office, there are still strategies to help manage overstimulation. The staff may not be able to fulfill your every request, but you can take steps to reduce overstimulation, such as:

• Giving your child noise-canceling headphones if they are sensitive to sounds.
• Giving your child sunglasses to help with light sensitivity.
• Waiting in your car with your child until their appointment. 

During the appointment

Discuss your child’s needs with the doctor beforehand. During the examination, use calming techniques like deep breathing or distract your child with a favorite toy to reduce stress. By addressing these challenges proactively, you can help make the appointment more comfortable for your child.

Carrying comforting objects

Examination rooms are filled with unfamiliar equipment, bright lights, and cold medical items. Bringing a comforting object into an unfamiliar place may help reduce your child’s anxiety. Comforting objects can be anything, such as your child’s favorite toy or blanket. 

Creating distractions during the procedure

Focusing your child’s attention on their favorite activity or toy will reduce your child’s anxiety during a procedure, especially parts where the doctor is touching them. Some great examples to create distractions include:

• Counting
• Reciting the alphabet
• Talking about one of their special interests
• Singing a favorite song

Encouraging communication and expression of feelings

Encourage your child to express any uncomfortable feelings or sensations during an exam or procedure. If at any point they become agitated, it may be appropriate to end the appointment, as a negative experience may linger with your child and cause them to dread future appointments. Assuming the visit is not an emergency, it’s almost always possible to reschedule for a later date.

After the appointment

Since every child reacts to doctors’ appointments differently, reflect on the experience and determine what worked and didn’t work for your child. Doing a few key activities after the appointment can help you better understand your child’s feelings and reactions and prepare for more successful visits in the future. 

Praising and rewarding your child post-visit

Reward your child for attending the appointment, even if it achieved nothing (i.e., the doctor didn’t complete the exam). Simply attending the appointment and familiarizing your child with the doctor’s office is a success! 

Praise specific behaviors that helped the appointment go smoothly to reinforce these behaviors for future visits. For example, you should compliment your child on how they held still while the doctor listened to their heartbeat with a stethoscope.

Reviewing and reflecting on the experience

Your child may be reluctant to answer questions in an unfamiliar setting with unfamiliar people, like healthcare staff. Asking questions in a familiar environment after the appointment (e.g., on the car ride home) will allow them to express their feelings and concerns comfortably. If they express any anxieties about the appointment, listen closely and reassure them that you’ll address them for future visits.

Asking questions after the appointment

Adjust your questions based on your child’s specific communication abilities and preferences. Be sure to ask if anything made them feel overwhelmed or uncomfortable during the visit. End your questions on a positive note by asking them what they enjoyed during the visit, such as whether they enjoyed playing with their comforting objects.

Planning for future visits

Now that you know how the appointment made your child feel, make a plan with them to help the next visit go smoother. If the first appointment didn’t go well, it’s important to reinforce any positive behaviors during the appointment to help your child move beyond this negative experience. Otherwise, one bad experience may create a long-term fear of doctors that could make every other visit difficult for you and your child. 

Lifelong participation in healthcare (especially preventive healthcare) is critical to ensuring your child lives a long, healthy life. Doctor’s visits won’t necessarily be easy, but each new visit should go more smoothly than the last and help your child eventually become more comfortable.

Additional resources for parents

Remember, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to parenting a child with autism. You’ll have to figure out which of these strategies works best for your child. By communicating with your child and healthcare providers, you’ll ensure your child’s specific needs are met. 

The resources below provide more information on how to accomplish this and help you and your child navigate doctor’s visits.

ASD-friendly healthcare professionals and clinics

• The AutismSource™ resource database provides a database of resources and affiliates around the USA.
• The Autism Care Network contains a list of 18 centers that are committed to serving patients diagnosed with autism.
• MediFind provides a database of healthcare providers who specialize in patients diagnosed with autism.
• ABA maintains a searchable list of therapists with credentials appropriate for addressing the needs of children diagnosed with autism.

Online forums and communities for parental support

• What to Expect contains an active community of almost 5,000 parents of autistic children, who provide advice and reassurance on issues specific to children diagnosed with autism.
• The National Autistic Society in the UK maintains a forum with almost 6,000 discussion threads from parents of autistic children.

Relevant books and audio-visual guides

• Written by psychology professors at the University of Utah and the University of Washington, A Parent’s Guide to Asperger Syndrome and High-Functioning Autism: How to Meet the Challenges and Help Your Child Thrive provides information for parents to help their children navigate difficult situations.
• The Explosive Child by Dr. Ross Greene contains ways to work with your child to help manage their behavior and understand the reasons for their behavior. 
• Specific visual stories will help your child know exactly what to expect based on the purpose of the visit. You’ll find visit-specific visual stores here and here.

• Visual schedules (PDF) help give your child a better understanding of the general timeline of a doctor’s appointment. DayCape allows users to create visual schedules for a variety of tasks, including doctor’s visits.