Many patients with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) feel anxious about having blood drawn. That’s why we’ve designed a sensory room at the Atlantic Health Children’s Specialty Center at Morristown. This calming space and our specially trained team can help make your family’s lab visit a caring and compassionate experience.
Our fully trained staff, soothing light options and the use of many other calming tools and techniques increase the likelihood of a successful, stress-free visit.
Developed in consultation with our community partners at the Autism Center in Morristown, this innovative program includes:
- flexible appointment times
- visual supports to reduce anxiety
- tools and toys to engage and comfort
- fast and reliable results
Call us to schedule your appointment.
Preparing for Your Visit
Talk with your loved one about what will happen during the appointment without focusing on the unpleasant or painful aspects of the procedure. To aid this conversation, we have prepared some downloadable resources to help you. We also encourage you to bring tools and toys for entertainment.
Visual Resources
Our printable storyboards demonstrate what will happen during a lab visit. Reviewing these ahead of time helps the patient cope more effectively during the experience and establishes predictability to reduce anxiety and decrease frustration.
Tools and Toys
Tools and toys from home can help distract, comfort and entertain the patient during the procedure.
We encourage you to bring the following items to your visit:
- Portable game device to play videos or music
- Favorite toy or stuffed animal
- Visually stimulating or tactile toys (colorful toys, vibrating toys, etc.)