8 year old ASD needs surgery

[WhyDoesItAlways]

Hi,

DS (8) is diagnosed with ASD. He's a very anxious, risk avoidant boy.

He has a squint, and regular opthalmology appointments have shown it isn't improving and so he is having a small operation to correct it. When the ophthalmologist was referring him for the procedure she explained what the process was and ALL the risks involved including death, right in front of DS! Obviously I have explained to him that the chance of that happening is absolutely miniscule and doctors have to say it to cover themselves but he is now terrified of having the procedure.

We were told at the time that the wait for the procedure would be long and he would be 9/10 by the time he had it however today we've been given a date in March. We'll have a meeting with paediatrics a week before the op and they are going to link in with their autism liaison officer but is there anything I can do in the meantime to put his mind at rest and prepare him for this.

Any advice greatly appreciated! Thank you.

Explain it is a very small risk and that all operations carry that risk. Get a coin out of your pocket and drop it. Say it’s like the “risk” that this coin would land on its edge and stay standing up. Get him to try and do it several times. Discuss how many times you’ve done it without getting it to stand on edge. It’s low risk. The procedure is low risk.

Agree with the above poster

Also, at his age, I liked things fully explained to me

Can you Google the procedure and map it out for him? Ie, from going onto the ward, laying on the bed, then basic explanstion about each stage? Then explain what the risk is relevant to the particular part of the surgery?

Bless him, the doc should've been a little more tactful there as any child would be scared, but a child with autism would struggle more xx

These are great ideas thank you. Love the coin idea, a great practical demonstration of risk.

I have been sent some info videos about the op designed for kids but they didn't seem that kid friendly to be honest so think ill hunt around online to see if I can find any generic hospital videos aimed at children to show what it looks like and what he can expect.