Unique medical/dental clinic caters to neurodiverse patients
A new medical and dental clinic is proving popular for people with intellectual disabilities and autism spectrum disorder since opening in late 2023 and early 2024.
The first-of-its-kind clinic, located at CLSC René-Cassin in Côte Saint Luc, has been a “miracle” for Brenda Held, whose son Mitchell, 54, is neurodivergent.
“The dentist was totally amazing,” she said of her son’s first visit to the clinic. “She gave him all the control, and he felt he wasn’t being pushed into a situation he didn’t want to be in.
“We were totally amazed by the way she handled him, and that made all the difference.” Held said visits to the dentist used to be a nightmare for her son, with him often having to be anesthetized for a tooth extraction.
The clinic offers a dentist three days a week and doctor once a week, plus a full-time nurse to perform blood tests and other procedures. Staff is trained in communication skills and use specialized treatment tools for patients, whose needs are diverse.
Over 300 dental appointments and 141 medical appointments have been booked since opening first the medical clinic in December 2023 and then the dental clinic in January, a month later.
A key feature of the clinic is a calming room, known as the Snoezelen room, which has sensory objects and tools to help create a calming and welcoming environment for the patients, says dentist Dr. Christina Angelopoulos. It serves as the waiting room and helps patients transition into the dental chair.
“We cater the length of each appointment to the level of comfort and needs of each patient,” she said. “In order to do this, we lengthen the appointments accordingly and allow for the patient to return as many times as needed in order to become desensitized to the environment.”
The CIUSSS West-Central Montreal, with support from the Jewish General Hospital Foundation, teamed up with the Azrieli Foundation to create the specialized clinic.
“General healthcare is absolutely fundamental to well-being but has remained an unmet need for neurodiverse individuals for far too long,” stated Naomi Azrieli, chair/CEO of the Azrieli Foundation in a press release.
The clinic is open Monday to Friday, and Quebec’s health insurance covers its services. Dental patients do not need a referral. The medical clinic doesn’t accept anyone who already has a doctor or who is not on the waiting list.
