"Difficult for autistic people"

We visited the orthodontic department with my autistic teenage daughter. The room is large and open plan with many stations, so several patients can be treated in the same room. Its hot and echoey and you can hear all conversations and consultants dictating notes. Its useful to explain to staff beforehand if your child is autistic or anxious because my daughter found the room to be sensory overload, even when it was quiet. Because it was a student, they did not explain to my daughter when they were going to touch her and what they were going to do- so I was left to explain. Its very useful to inform autistic patients and explain what you are doing, especially when they are about to be touched. My daughter felt that the staff were talking to each other, rather than her and this made her more anxious. The consultant then came to look- but spoke mainly to the student and touched my daughter on the shoulder- which really upset her as it was not necessary touch and she already had sensory overload. My daughter felt very anxious and upset that they were discussing her, in front of her, but without telling her what they meant. We were then told she didn’t need braces at all and she was almost perfect. For me, it was a relief because the set up was totally unsuitable for her and staff didn’t seem to understand what autistic people need to access treatment. It was very disappointing that the staff then said that it had been a positive experience for her. It was not positive because the room was very unsuitable for her needs and communication from staff to my daughter was very poor and she was so stressed that she had situational mutism. It took her a lot of effort and consideration to attend that appointment and was a big decision for her. It upset me that they were insisting it was positive when it was not as that invalidated her feelings. A child who is not able to speak, its obviously not having a positive experience. For autistic patients- 1) a screen or walls to separate them from other patients and noise 2) tell them before you touch them and don’t touch unnecessarily 3) Tell them what you are going to do, it is their body and they need to know what is happening and why. 4) If a person is anxious and clearly struggling- aknowledge and validate that feeling, rather than trying to ‘ be positive’.