patient story

Surgery is a stressful and scary time for any child but can be especially stressful for a child with autism. When Heather Sharp found out that Declan, her six-year-old son with autism, needed his tonsils and adenoids removed and tubes placed, she instantly felt nervous about how he would do in the situation.

The day before Declan’s surgery, Heather received a call from a Dayton Children’s Hospital child life specialist asking her all kinds of questions about Declan and what he likes and dislikes. Heather didn’t realize that the child life specialist was building a coping plan for Declan so that they could be prepared for his surgery. The coping plan would then be used to create a sensory friendly room for Declan to be in prior to his procedure.

Heather was overwhelmed by the preparation that took place by Dayton Children’s staff to make sure that Declan felt at ease going into surgery. “When we were brought back to the room the day of surgery it was set up specially for Declan,” says Heather. “We walked in and immediately felt more at ease. The lights were turned down low. There was a projection of fish on the wall. They had a fiberoptic bubble machine. There were markers for Declan to color on the bed. Basically anything they could do to help Declan not think about being at the hospital.”

“When Declan told our nurse that he wanted to be a doctor when he grows up, she brought him his own stethoscope to play with. It made Declan so excited, and he is still playing with it to this day,” Heather explains.

There were a couple of things that really stood out to Heather. One was that all the staff were aware of Declan’s situation. “I didn’t have to explain anything while we were there. They all knew that he was autistic, and this was a tough situation for him,” says Heather.

The other thing that stood out to Heather was that the care team asked how much she wanted Declan to know about the surgery. Depending on the situation, this can mean explaining and showing things that are going to happen in a way that is easy for the patient to understand.

For Declan this meant showing him the “astronaut” mask that would be used in the operating room before he even got to the room. “The child life specialist came in with the mask and let Declan pick out a scent that he would like to smell while “going up to space.” She even let him decorate it with stickers so that when he got to the operating room he would have already seen it and know that it was his,” says Heather.

When it was time for Declan to be taken back for surgery he wasn’t even scared. “He grabbed the nurse’s hand and walked out of the room with not even a tear.”

The goal for any child that must have surgery is to make them feel as comfortable as possible. “With the sensory room there were a lot of options to make Declan feel comfortable and keep him busy while waiting for something that could’ve been very stressful for both of us,” says Heather. “I’m so happy that we have this option when coming to Dayton Children’s.”