PUZZLES & CAMO SHELLY HUHTANEN

Dr. John

There are moments when you get lucky and pair up with a medical team that cares and ensures your special needs child receives the care they need and sensitive to their needs.

With autism, there is no playbook. It doesn't matter how much advice is given or how many books are read, autism provides a special flavor to any adventure. A week ago, Broden had his wisdom teeth extracted. The oral surgeon and his team couldn't have been more prepared and empathetic to Broden's needs and I'll be forever grateful. If you're part of the special needs community, positive stories involving medical and oral care are rare. Unfortunately, children with special needs may not have access to much needed oral care. It can be difficult finding medical specialists who are willing to work with our children with special needs because frankly, it can be harder and at times, it calls for the medical provider to be creative in how care is administered. In many cases, the medical professional not only needs to be good at their job, they also need to be extremely calm, and willing to look outside the box to get through unique obstacles that may not be experienced with a typical patient. Last week, I don't think we could have had a more positive experience.

Mark was able to take the day off from work so he could be there to support Broden and I was grateful for the help. As we sat in the waiting room, I kept reminding Broden that he was going to have wisdom teeth taken out, but it would be done while he was asleep so he wouldn't feel it. Not understanding the full implications of what I was saying, he just turned to me and smiled. After about five minutes, he turned to me again and asked, "Go home?" I shook my head "no"

and reminded him that he was going to stay awhile for the procedure, but I assured him that we would not leave him.

BRODEN'S WAY: "Dr. John knew that there wasn't a playbook for exactly what we needed to do to get through. He gave me a few things to strive towards to keep Broden on the path toward recovery. In the end, we needed to do it Broden's way."

A few minutes later, Broden's name was called and we were brought back to the room where the procedure would be completed. In the middle of the room was the infamous dental chair, a chair that Broden refuses to sit in anytime he goes in for a dental cleaning. Noticing the chair, I said, "Broden, you can sit in the chair in the corner and I will stand next to you." The oral surgeon's assistant came in and smiled at Broden. She assured us that everything would be fine and that she

had a family member with autism. As she started to walk over closer, she smiled again at Broden, "Do you want to try and sit in the chair?" Broden adamantly said "no" so I sat in the chair and asked, "Why don't you sit with me? We can sit here together." After some petitioning, he sat down for a few seconds then got up again, "Broden, it's ok. I'll stay here with you." To our surprise, he sat in the chair and stayed seated.

The oral surgeon came in, introduced himself and smiled, "Ok Broden, we are going to give you something that is going to help you relax and then you're going to go to sleep. When you wake up, you'll go home with your mom and dad, okay?" Broden glanced over at him won