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Teenage ASD son with fear of all things medical?!

fergie

Hello

It would be really nice to hear if anyone else can relate to this.

My son Tom is 15 and has ASD and Scoliosis (curvature of the spine).  Up until 2013, he had xrays every 8 months or so at Oswestry orthopaedic hospital to monitor the progress of the curvature.  He had been having xrays since the age of 5 years old with no problem, he knew exactly the procedure and would make the staff laugh with his knowledge of the xray machines and friendly, if sometimes odd, ways!

Then in 2013 something happened in his head and he became terrified of the xray machines....the consultant then was starting to make surgery rumours.  So Tom decided to stop co-operating.  The next time we went up....later in 2013 and again in 2014, he did the same again.  The consultant made arrangements for a hospital photographer to take photos so that these could be shown to show Tom so he could see what we were dealing with.  Tom was shocked but it didn't change anything.

In the end it was agreed that xrays would be done under general anaesthetic..... It was all arranged.  On the morning of the said day, he started to protest straight away, had blood pressure done with a struggle, wouldn't have "magic cream" for the site of the needle on his hand. Two attempts later we gave up and came home.  One of the attempts even involved sedation, he got very relaxed but still fought having anaesthetic.

In the meantime, boosters for vaccinations became due at school, I arranged for them to be done at our local doctors - twice to no avail.  He flatly refused and became quite violent. The last time was today.  We had told him he wouldn't go to college for his one day release each week at school that he loves if he wasn't immunised.  

After the Oswestry incident, the consultant there wrote to our local GP asking him to get Tom seen by a psychologist.  This was done and she suggested   lorazepam before he goes to Oswestry, then again once he is up there and hopefully this will reduce anxiety and help him have the xray.......should I be convinced?  Should I make him also start missing college until he has his jabs or should I see if the drug works for the xray...maybe it could work for jabs too?  He is already talking himself out of liking college so he won't see it as a choice we are making him make.  He is outside at college (agricultural course) and could quite easily cut himself thus requiring a tetanus, one of the boosters he needs.

Help!

Thanks for reading

Parents
  • Former Member
    Former Member

    Hi,

    I sympathise a lot with how he is behaving. I have always been terrible about jabs, dentists, hospitals, doctors etc etc. I always imagined that surgery/disease would be terrible. In hindsight this fits with two factors.

    1) It seems that we can be super-sensitive. Going to the dentist may actually be more painful for us than for other folk. I avoided the dentist for many years and gather that other forum members have the same aversion.

    2) We tend to catastrophise about assuming the worst outcome from events.

    For me, the issue improved when I accepted that I simply had to go to the dentist when I broke a tooth. The new dentist was actually able to do his stuff without hurting me and I also accepted that there was no alternative.

    I also broke my leg last year and was put in the same situation of having to accept the inevitable operation to bolt me back together. I was really surprised that I could actually go through with it calmly because the very thought of such an operation would have made me faint out cold previously. I subsequently went through a total hip replacement and now am just amazed by how successful and pain free the whole business was.

    Can he be introduced to someone who has gone through the procedures that he might have to go through and come out the other side? He may be able to build trust by talking to someone in his position.

Reply
  • Former Member
    Former Member

    Hi,

    I sympathise a lot with how he is behaving. I have always been terrible about jabs, dentists, hospitals, doctors etc etc. I always imagined that surgery/disease would be terrible. In hindsight this fits with two factors.

    1) It seems that we can be super-sensitive. Going to the dentist may actually be more painful for us than for other folk. I avoided the dentist for many years and gather that other forum members have the same aversion.

    2) We tend to catastrophise about assuming the worst outcome from events.

    For me, the issue improved when I accepted that I simply had to go to the dentist when I broke a tooth. The new dentist was actually able to do his stuff without hurting me and I also accepted that there was no alternative.

    I also broke my leg last year and was put in the same situation of having to accept the inevitable operation to bolt me back together. I was really surprised that I could actually go through with it calmly because the very thought of such an operation would have made me faint out cold previously. I subsequently went through a total hip replacement and now am just amazed by how successful and pain free the whole business was.

    Can he be introduced to someone who has gone through the procedures that he might have to go through and come out the other side? He may be able to build trust by talking to someone in his position.

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