We had a young child just a couple weeks ago who has severe autism. She came in for an exam last year that was not successful and was actually referred to CCHMC-Ophthalmology. Dad brought her in this year, hoping it would be better. With team work from us as well as Dad, we were able to get through the entire exam. At first, the child didn’t want to be on the auto refractor, she didn’t want to be touched. We just told her that we play games and at the end she gets a toy. Come time for dilation she was very scared. Dad and Cerone had a pep talk with her, while I held toys and she did it on her own while sitting in dads lap. The exam went better than expected and she didn’t need glasses.
-Alison Mitchell