Claire Campbell-Adams discusses how clinics can better cater for neurodiverse clients, particularly those with autism and ADHD.
Neurodiversity is a term that has become more mainstream in the past few years thanks to an increase in awareness of autism and ADHD. This is partly fuelled by the increasing number of influencers and high-profile people being diagnosed with ADHD. In order to make clinics more accessible for neurodiverse clients, it is important to have an understanding of what it means and the everyday challenges our neurodiverse clients face.
Neurodiversity is an umbrella term used to describe the differences in how people’s brains work. It includes conditions like autism spectrum condition, ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia and Tourette’s. Tracey Dennison has written about dyslexia (pages 52-54), so I will focus on autism and ADHD.
Understanding ADHD and autism
The ADHD Foundation tells us that one in five people is neurodiverse.1 In addition, The National Autistic Society2 states there are over 700,000 adults and children in the UK with autism. My family are a part of these statistics. I was diagnosed with ADHD in November, and our son is autistic.
Autism is a lifelong developmental disability which affects how people communicate and interact with the world.2 It is also on a spectrum which means no two people with autism experience or present exactly the same. However, people with autism do have challenges that they share. These include social communication and social interaction; repetitive and restrictive behaviour; over or under-sensitivity to light, sound, taste or touch; highly focused interests or hobbies; extreme anxiety; meltdowns and shutdowns. The idea of a spectrum often conjures up a linear profile with high to low functioning bookending the spectrum, however, a spikey profile is more accurate, as can be seen in this diagram.
The ADHD iceberg, as seen in the diagram by ADHD360, shows the internal challenges that people with ADHD face. It is not just the stereotypical naughty boy running around the classroom. Often hyperactivity can manifest in racing thoughts, and struggles with attention can manifest in both lack of attention and hyperfocus to the point that people forget to do the basic self-care such as eating and going to the toilet. There are three types of ADHD; Hyperactive ADHD, Inattentive ADHD and Combined ADHD. I have combined ADHD, which means I present with both hyperactive (racing thoughts) and inattention (I often start one thing and then get distracted, leaving it undone).
Autism and ADHD share challenges in sensory processing so, while there are numerous facets to both these conditions, in order to help you make your clinic accessible, I will share some ideas on how you can make small changes to make visiting your clinic an enjoyable experience clients will want to repeat and recommend.
Autism and ADHD are invisible disabilities, so one of the easiest things you can do as a clinic is to train your team on the hidden disability sunflower lanyard, which is a project designed to let others know that the wearer has a hidden disability. You can download digital logos to use on your website, download a poster for your waiting room; share posts on your social media highlighting your understanding and support of the sunflower.
Christine Flintoft-Smith, Head of Autism Accreditation at the National Autistic Society, said: “Autistic people represent a huge part of our society – at least 1 in 100 people are autistic, which means more than 700,000 people in the UK. It’s important that autistic people have the opportunity to go to beauty salons and aesthetic clinics just like anyone else if they wish to. But many find the sensory aspects of these environments, like bright lights, the noise of the equipment and the smell of products, overwhelming. Small changes can make a huge difference.
“It could be as simple as staff learning more about autism and making simple adjustments, like keeping movement to a minimum, dimming bright lights and offering visits in advance so autistic people feel comfortable and reassured. It’s so important that beauty salons and aesthetics clinics consider autistic people and find out how they can help to open up the salon experience to everyone.”
Things you can do to make your salon/clinic more accessible:
- Include a box on your patient information form which asks about neurodiversity and any reasonable adjustments you can make to enhance their visit. If you have a neurodiverse tool kit, include a tick box where they can indicate what tool they would like to access.
- Amend your patient feedback form so it asks specific questions; people with autism find it easier to answer questions when specific details are required, e.g. replace “How was your visit?” with “Did you enjoy your visit today?”
- Create a Neurodiverse Tool Kit
- Provide a video showing the clinic. This can help the person know what to expect, which helps plan and reduce anxiety
- Provide a text service where the person can wait in the car/outside until their appointment is ready, helping reduce the anxiety and overwhelm of sitting in a waiting room
- Ask if they would like a text/call before to remind them of the appointment, as planning can be difficult
- Train staff on the sunflower lanyard
- Train staff on neurodiversity
- If there is a last-minute change to what the client is expecting, let them know as soon as possible and understand the change may make it difficult for them still to attend their appointment. Offer alternatives, for example, the therapist they were expecting has been replaced by someone else, sudden unexpected change can be difficult to process
- Bright lights can be uncomfortable, so offer the use of an eye mask during treatment or, if safe to do dim the lights
- Allow the use of ear pods during treatment to help dull the background noise
- Allow time for questions, some people like to know every step and ask lots of questions. It may be helpful to have this available in advance as one of the tools in your tool kit to make your clinic more accessible e.g. they are having laser hair removal and have identified as neurodiverse you can ask them if they would like to see a photo of the machine and step by step guide of how the treatment will process so they know what to do.
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