This past Christmas was the most challenging of holidays for my family with two special needs children.
My seven-year-old son, who has Autism and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), struggles to self-regulate amidst the constant stimulus that comes with the approaching holidays. He also cannot handle the suspense of waiting to open presents and has frequent explosive meltdowns daily.
Next Year We are Skipping Christmas
Four tips to help special needs kids survive the holidays
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This year, we had an added frustration.
A broken foot that required an MRI and six weeks in a cast!
For those of you raising children with Autism, FASD, or who have sensory challenges, you know how hard it can be to get your child to cooperate with having an MRI. The gigantic white tunnel and rhythmic booming are more than any sensory-challenged child can take. And to top it off, he had to lay completely still for 20 minutes!
Thankfully, I had two weeks to prepare him. Because if he couldn’t do it, he would need to be anesthetized.
Here’s where I got creative.
I developed a plan that included the following:
- Watch videos on YouTube
- Have a pretzel jar countdown (if needed)
- Create an MRI simulator
- Practice having an MRI in time increments
- Offer rewards
After two weeks of adhering to this plan, my son willingly completed a 20+ minute MRI.
Let’s take a look at what we did.
Watched MRI videos on YouTube
Just like when he had to be anesthetized for a dental procedure and have X-rays for a cast last year, we found many videos showing what occurs when having an MRI. These videos are made specifically for young kids, and if you live in a popular city, you may even find a video at the hospital where your child will be having the procedure done.
We watched as the technician checked the child in, asked the parent questions, and then the child changed into a hospital gown and lay on the table.
In most of these videos, the child was given video goggles and headphones to watch their favorite movie while having the MRI. These videos were my son’s first introduction to the types of sounds he would be hearing as well.
The pretzel jar
A lot of my son’s anxiety centered around the wait as well as the unknown. He was nervous about what would happen and had no concept of time. He constantly asked, “Are we having the MRI tomorrow?” even though it was two weeks away.
With “tomorrow” never coming, his anxiety increased.
To help him understand how much time had passed, I filled a jar with mini pretzels, the amount being the number of days until the event. Then, as each day passed, he took out a pretzel and ate it.
By seeing how many pretzels remained in the jar, he could visualize how many days he had left for the event.
This strategy kept him from repeatedly asking, “Do we go tomorrow?”
Practicing for his MRI
Create a simulation
Here is where I got creative. First, I found videos of MRI sounds on YouTube and screen-recorded 20 minutes — the length of time his MRI was supposed to last.
Second, I took a narrow writing desk, moved it to the center of the room, and covered it entirely with a blanket. I left a small opening about the size of the MRI machine where he would lay and put his leg through.
Then, I gave him a pillow to rest his head and streamed a special movie on the TV. I got him comfortable and started playing the MRI screen recording near his ear, so it was pretty loud.
Practice in time increments
The first time we set up the MRI simulator, we practiced for 10 minutes. I ensured his arms were by his side, he was comfortable on the floor, and he could see and hear the TV. Then, I set a visual timer for 10 minutes, and he remained still and watched the movie.
If he happened to move any part of his body, I gently reminded him that he had to lay as still as possible.
We practiced this about four more times, each time adding more minutes to the clock until he was successfully laying still and tolerating the loud machine noises from the recording.
Offer rewards
Each time we practiced, he received a reward in increasing increments. The first reward was a lollipop. For the second, I let him pick a new video game for his iPad.
His greatest reward, a toy of his choosing, was after he successfully completed the procedure. Fortunately for me, what he wanted was Spiderman gloves! Since it was Christmas, I didn’t have much money left over for anything more expensive than that, so he was easy to please.
The Benefits
The results of practicing these steps were more than I anticipated. He was so excited to have successfully completed the procedure and he got a new toy from the doctor as well as a gift from me.
So, if you have a special-needs child and you’re wondering how you will get your child to comply, try these tips and let me know how it goes in the comments.
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This post was previously published on medium.com.
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From The Good Men Project on Medium
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Photo credit: CDC on Unsplash
