So Logan had quite an ordeal a few weeks ago. He got very very sick and ended up in the ER with severe abdominal pain. The first hospital thought it was his appendix and transferred him to another hospital by ambulance. Where they found out he actually had Scarlet Fever. All of this is really beside the point, this blog is about how the staff dealt with Logan. I has taken me almost a month to fully process how I felt about the entire event. Being that I was almost 8 months pregnant at the time I needed to process everything and make sure I was not being overly emotional about the situation. Lets start with Hospital Number 1, shall we?
Well the first hospital we went to was our local small town hospital. The ER was not busy and they got us back almost immediately. I informed the nurse that Logan had Aspergers and was amazed at the care and concern he received from the entire nursing staff and the Dr. They all spoke very softly and calmly, they told him everything they were going to do and why before they did it, and the Dr. even asked if there was something special he should do. Overall even when he was very upset about the IV the Dr and nursing staff was absolutely amazing! I was relieved. When they transferred him to the local Children's Hospital they tried to arrange a transport ambulance that I could ride with him, but it was going to be hours. So in the end they had a special pediatric transport team come, and I had to load Logan in an ambulance by himself.
The pediatric transport team was amazing as well. There was a nurse, a medic, and a driver. They new about his Aspergers and did an amazing job helping him through the situation. They were kind and caring and walked him through in detail what was going to happen. I prepared Logan as best I could for the trip and I must say he did AMAZING! Surprisingly the hospital I have the issue with was the children's specialty hospital. I must say it appears even the Dr. seemed to lack training on how to deal with any children, let alone one with Aspergers or ASD.
When the Dr. came in she was loud and ignored Logan completely. She began just pushing on his stomach with no warning. He immediately started having a freakout, and she asked if he would even tell me if he had a sore throat. Before I could even answer she said "I doubt it, and left the room." It was one of those parenting moments where hindsight I should have stepped out of the room and called her out, and said " he has Aspergers, he isn't nonverbal, he is aware of what goes on around him, and I would appreciate you treating him like a person!" But I was so overwhelmed to be honest I just looked at Sam and comforted Logan as best I could. The nurses were not better at all. They didn't give him any warning and from my point of view appeared to be manhandling him instead of just telling what they needed him to do. For example, his arm began swelling and they had to adjust his IV which is taped to a board/splint in his arm. The nurse snaps at Logan and begins to fix it and then puts a super hot, heating pad on it without explaining it or letting him feel it or anything. Logan flipped and with good reason. It was hot to me, which I love hot stuff. Logan being very sensitive to temperature it would have felt intense. Sam actually jumped down the nurses throat about it. I am glad he did. There was one person at the entire hospital that seemed to get Logan. He was one of the orderlies. He was a tall lanky kid in his early 20's who was amazing with Logan! I hope he continues on for a nursing degree or to be a Dr, because he was AMAZING. Overall I was incredibly disappointed that they seemed completely unaware of how to treat a person, let alone a child who is scared and has Aspergers.
I seems to me with ASD on the rise that ER's and Dr's would have some type of training surrounding how to deal with kids and adults on the spectrum. I know sometimes in an emergency you just have to get it done, but the times we had issues it wasn't an immediate threat to Logan. I struggle with the fact I didn't confront the nurse and Dr. directly. I also felt as though the nursing staff was acting unprofessionally in other areas, which is an entirely other matter. I will be writing a letter to the hospital about our experience. I know there is a good chance nothing with change, but I have to try to prevent another child from being treated like that. Hopefully Logan doesn't have to go through anything like that again, and I don't believe I will let it go unchecked again. Logan is bright, aware, and capable. He just does better when he has compassionate caring professionals taking care of him.
