Autism Friendly Initiative

Interested in building an Autism Friendly healthcare practice? Join us for our first annual Autism Friendly conference: Building an Autism Friendly Practice. This conference is designed for any healthcare professional, from all disciplines or practice settings, who may be seeking to create or strengthen their organization’s ability to serve patients with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). For more information and to register, visit our registration page!

Goals

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The Autism Friendly Initiative at Boston Medical Center aims to improve the hospital experience for patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Patients with ASD have various sensory and communication needs, which can make the fast-paced and often over-stimulating hospital environment particularly challenging.

To address the needs of patients with ASD, we strive to make the hospital environment more autism-friendly, educate clinicians and staff, and provide resources to patients. We believe these efforts will lead to better hospital experiences, and ideally, better outcomes, for patients with ASD.

Ongoing Projects

Autism 101 Trainings

Caregivers from The Autism Program's Parent Leadership in Autism Network (PLAN) have presented "Autism 101" trainings to third-year medical students, genetic counseling students, and pediatric dental school residents. Learn more

Sensory Toolbox

The Sensory Toolbox includes items such as sunglasses, stress balls, and pop tubes in order to make our patients feel as comfortable as possible during their hospital visits. They are now available in multiple departments and clinics at Boston Medical Center. Learn more

Autism Support Checklist

The Autism Support Checklist (ASC) collects information about patients’ communication and sensory needs, triggers, and calming strategies. This information is then entered into patients' electronic medical records for clinicians to refer to. Learn more

Healthcare Social Stories App

The BMC Healthcare Social Stories App will soon be available as a free app that contains social stories about the various procedures that commonly take place during a healthcare encounter. The website version of the app can be viewed here. Learn more

Prevalence and Characteristics of Autism Spectrum Disorder Among Children Aged 8 Years — Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, 11 Sites, United States, 2014. MMWR Surveillance Summaries. 2018;67(6):1-23.

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