Helping Your Cerebral Palsy Child Prepare for Medical Procedures

A child with cerebral palsy often spends more time in doctors’ offices and medical settings than most other children.  Doctor’s visits, dental appointments, emergency care – all of these can cause a special needs child to experience anxiety, and anxiety can impair a child’s ability to cope.

For this reason, it’s important that parents understand the ways in which they can help to minimize their child’s anxiety prior to a visit to the doctor or a medical procedure. Below are some basic tips for helping prepare your child for any kind of medical encounter:

• Make sure you understand what the appointment is going to entail as this will help you to explain to your child what to expect.
• Be sensitive to your child’s fears and anxieties, but also be honest about whether a procedure is going to hurt or not. Try to provide your child with examples of what something might feel like-for instance, if they’re getting a shot, you might want to explain that it feels like a pinch; that it will hurt for only a few seconds.
• Explain to your child that medical care is good for them and helps them to get better, even if it hurts sometimes.
• Introduce your child to some of the equipment they may encounter during their doctor’s visit. Show them the purpose of different medical instruments such as a stethoscope, thermometer, needle, or x-ray machine. There are many ways you can do this, including by way of books at your local library or by taking your child to a local hospital or medical facility.
• Encourage questions and discussion. Allow your child to talk about his/her feelings, and try to provide some comfort.
• Bring books or games to the appointment. This will help ease anxiety while you’re waiting for the doctor and may also help distract your child during a painful procedure.
• Be sure to keep your anxiety to a minimum. Of course it’s natural to worry about your child, but children are extremely adept at sensing their parents’ stress. If you feel stress, your child will be more likely to feel stress too.