Special Care
Date: September 25, 2006

One of the hallmarks of Floyd’s mission is that personal dignity is of utmost importance. Recently that belief was played out beautifully when the teacher of a class of students with autism called for a tour of Floyd Medical Center.

It’s not uncommon to receive requests for tours throughout the school year. One of the themes elementary and middle school students learn is Community Helpers, and very often Floyd is asked to give the students an opportunity to meet healthcare community helpers. The request from Pepperell Middle School, however, was a first. Never before had a teacher requested a tour for students with autism, a developmental disability that affects social interaction and communication. In addition, one of the Pepperell children is blind and afraid of the outdoors. Another can hear, but is mute, and dependent on a combination of sign language and a device with pre-recorded messages on it to communicate.

Floyd was uniquely positioned to meet the needs of these students. Brandi Littlejohn in the Public Relations department has a younger brother with autism and Mark Harrison, also in the Public Relations Department, has a nephew with Down Syndrome. Both of these individuals understand the limitations, needs and principles required to make this tour as educational for these students as tours for students without disabilities. Brandi and Mark seized this opportunity, developing a program in which the students would meet EMS workers and tour a Floyd ambulance, learn about what to do in an emergency and reiterate that sirens are loud and lights are bright, but that the students should not be afraid. This is a particularly important concept for individuals with autism, who often react intensely to bright lights and loud sounds.

In addition, Brandi devised a pictograph agenda for the students and developed special visual materials to remind them of the importance of staying away from items with the poison symbol, to always wear their seatbelts, to always wear protective equipment when riding bicycles or skating and to call 911 if a parent or caregiver can’t wake up. She also included a visit by Little Green, Floyd’s safety education mascot, who reminded the children to “Play Safe.” Before the tour was over, each and every one of the students was repeating the reminder. (It helped that for this particular audience, Little Green, driven by Mark, would spin around and flash his lights whenever one of the students would say, “Play Safe.”)

And, as they prepared to leave, Brandi, knowing that children with autism are very tactile, provided each of the six students with a soft-stuffed Floyd frog for them to touch, cuddle and take home.

Floyd most definitely played the role of community helper that day, accommodating a special population with the same message our organization would like everyone to know: Floyd is here for our entire community, and we take special care to meet the special needs of all of our patients.

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