By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
SOMERS POINT — Children with autism and other sensory needs can now have a more sensory-friendly experience when they visit Shore Medical Center’s Pediatric Care Center, thanks in part to an Ocean City resident.
The new program, developed in partnership with the Atlantic County Special Services School District, was first made available to patients April 2 to mark World Autism Awareness Day.
According to a news release, Shore Medical Center (SMC) has had a separate pediatric emergency room and in-patient unit since 2011, “so it has long recognized the importance of serving children’s unique needs to make a hospital visit less scary for them.”
But children with autism and other sensory disorders benefit from even more specialized care such as what Shore is now providing in the newly designed care center, the release stated.
“From door to discharge, children with sensory needs will have a wide array of resources available at Shore to make the experience less scary. From bubble walls and weighted blankets to a series of familiar footprint decals on the floor to help distract children on the way to the sensory room, Shore is committed to making every step of their care easier throughout their stay,” spokesman Brian Cahill stated in the release, noting the project was funded in large part by a donation from a local family.
Cahill said pediatric nurse Leigh Finley has been instrumental in implementing the new program.
“This population of children does better when they are in familiar environments, so we’ve worked very closely with the Atlantic County Special Services School District to mimic their experience in school. For example, at school, there are footprint decals on the floor to help children focus on getting from point A to point B, and we will use the same ‘follow the footprints’ decals as well to help children get to their treatment room,” Finley stated in the release. “We’ve also provided all of our pediatric ER staff with extensive training with help from the school district, so they understand how to serve them best every step of the way.”
Along with the footprints and visual and tactile updates to the Pediatric Care Center, there will be a cart full of sensory toys and other tools that a child can play with while in the hospital and then take home to provide familiar comfort.
Ocean City resident Jen Cruickshank and Sea Isle City’s Anne Finley, from the special services school, worked with the medical center to develop the concept for the new treatment center.
Cruickshank said the project originated in summer 2019 when a family with an autistic child visited the pediatric emergency room for care and “the whole experience was quite stressful and traumatizing not just for the child and his or her family but for the staff at Shore as well.”
She said when officials with the medical center started discussing ways to be “proactive in helping children like this and that’s when they contacted us to assist with that.”
“What we are hoping is that by creating a space like this, families won’t be as afraid to bring their children in,” Cruickshank said.
She said in their experience, families of developmentally disabled children often avoid crowded public areas because their children have a hard time adjusting, leading to outbursts and some behavioral issues.
“We think that when they seek emergency treatment like this, they are doing it out of absolute necessity. The child may be really critical and they could have avoided some of that had they brought the child in sooner,” Cruickshank said. “So we’re hoping that by having the space, parents will access emergency care sooner and have a much better experience along with their children and the staff there.”
Beginning in fall 2019, they provided their expertise in interaction with children on the autism spectrum, with behavior disabilities, cognitive impairment, medical disabilities and any other developmental disabilities.
Officials with the medical center had hoped to have it open for World Autism Awareness Day 2020 but the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the process by a year.
Finley said the room has been completely redesigned from a traditional pediatric emergency department treatment room.
Everything from the colors of the walls to what’s in the room has changed. This new room has all of the walls painted light blue because blue is a very calming color and just looking at it helps you relax,” Finley said.
Appliqués of fish, turtles and other sea life are scattered around the room, Finley said, to provide a distraction from the medical nature of the surroundings or as a focal point when that is appropriate.
Cruickshank said all unnecessary items have been removed from the treatments rooms, both for the safety of patients and to try to create a more calming atmosphere.
“Occupational therapists recommended little things like gloves they may need for medical procedures all be mounted on one wall away from the child in the bed,” Cruickshank said, noting that removes them from the patient’s reach and sight “to feel less like a scary medical place and more like a calming child-friendly area.”
Both women commended Shore for creating the sensory-friendly center.
“It’s definitely one of a kind in our area. Within Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland counties, there’s nothing that exists like this,” Cruickshank said.
Finley said World Autism Awareness Day was the perfect time for opening the new treatment center.
“It’s the perfect day to open the room and celebrate what Shore is trying to do, really just reaching out to a segment of the community that often isn’t the focus of anyone’s attention when it comes to issues like this,” Finley said.
“We were really excited to help out with the project because we are really dedicated to the success of our kids not just in school but outside in the community, and anything that can improve their lives we want to be a part of,” Cruickshank said.