Silver Award: Sensory Friendly Development Clinic Visit Project
Naval Medical Center Portsmouth (NMCP) is more sensory friendly for families of autistic children, thanks to four Girl Scouts! Girl Scout Cadettes Laila H., Lauren E., Olivia G., and Lily M., from Troop 29 in Chesapeake earned their Girl Scout Silver Award for carrying out their project, “Sensory Friendly Development Clinic Visit Project.” They wanted to help children with autism to have better experiences when going to a medical appointment.
Going to the doctor can be stressful for many people, especially for children with disabilities and behavioral challenges such as autism. Being stressed while at the doctor’s office can impact the success of the appointment, and it can be unsafe. A stress-free visit means children with special needs can get the best out of their appointment.
In consultation with NMCP, the Girl Scouts created a social story using video and an interactive coloring book which can be viewed and used by parents and children before a visit. The visuals show patients at each step of the process, from checking in and getting vitals taken to seeing the provider. It allows the patients to see the clinic spaces and the process, so they know what will happen when they arrive.
After learning that fluorescent lighting is too harsh for children with sensory difficulties, they outfitted the clinic spaces at NMCP with LED lighting and white noise/background music to help soothe patients in each exam room. They also created a calm-down corner and a cart filled with special items to help when children get frustrated and need to re-center. The cart has sensory-appropriate toys and items for staff to use or demonstrate within the clinic setting. To help promote these new efforts at NMCP, the Girl Scouts created a handout to raise awareness with a goal of having more clinics choose to use these approaches.
“During this project, I learned that autism isn’t a disease at all — it’s a disability that some kids are born with, and it’s just part of who they are,” Girl Scout Olivia said. “They’re still special, and they deserve the same treatment as everyone else because they’re not less, just different. Some of the sensory-friendly features awe installed actually helped me learn new ways to cope with my stimming and panic attacks, which made this project feel even more meaningful to me.”
Congratulations, Troop 29, on a job well done!
