Digital Material | In the Heart of Autism: A desensitization and awareness-raising program to help persons with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) undergo medical check-ups

A visit to the hospital for a heart test or some other medical check-up might be routine for most people. For others, however, it can be a disorienting and painful experience. People in white coats, long corridors and medical equipment, being prodded and touched, the noise and bustle, the stress and pushing back against it all… And yet, when properly prepared, persons with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can make their way in a hospital setting without distress.

Persons with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) of all ages, along with their parents, who together have to deal with the anxiety and fear induced by all the standard procedures involved in a medical check-up –from getting a referral right through to undergoing an echocardiogram or ECG– are not always properly prepared for what is to come.

Thanks to the creation of an educational handbook, children, teens, and young persons with ASD will –through a series of eleven social stories– be familiarized with the entire heart check-up process, from how best to prepare for their medical exams right through to picking up the results from the hospital. In the same vein, by means of a short educational booklet, the general public will learn about the needs and particularities of persons with ASD and discover ways in which they too can help make things easier for them while they’re undergoing medical checks or visiting the hospital.

“In the Heart of Autism” is a comprehensive desensitization program targeting medical examinations performed on persons with ASD, one that also simultaneously aims to raise awareness more broadly among the general public.

Addressed to

Children, teens and young adults with ASD, parents, therapists, special education teachers, and the general public.

The following digital materials are available now and can be downloaded for free:

In the Heart of Autism: A desensitization and awareness-raising program to help persons with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) undergo medical check-ups

Credits

Aggeliki Gena
Clinical Psychologist, Professor of Psychology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Katingo Hadjipateras-Giannoulis
Chartered Clinical Psychologist, Professor of Psychology at the American College of Greece, Deree College
Katerina Drosinou
Special Education Teacher, M.Sc., Member of the scientific team tasked with preparing the Onassis Foundation’s research and education programs
Erifyli Tsirembolou
Psychologist
Katerina Giannakopoulou
Special Education Teacher, President of ALMA (the Pan-Hellenic Association of Adapted Activities)

This program’s educational handbook and booklet were both created in collaboration with the Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center (OCSC), and under the scientific auspices of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.