Category Archives: Needle Sticks

Is there anything on calming an autistic adult down during a needle stick procedure by rubbing their head, holding their hand, giving them hugs? I have found some nurses will do this for me but others resent it and think it’s uneccesary. They think I am trying to flirt or get inappropriate female attention, but this is a real need that I have for comfort. Male nurses or technicians make me very nervous because of cruelty and abuse with needles that male attendants at a government hospital put me through as a child. I have an oversensitivity to pain because of my autism. It really helps me to have the same female nurses every time, but the hospital will not always do that for me if the nurse is not there when I am. Do you know of any helpful websites or books that I can get? What about the Americans with Disability Act? How much right does that give me to this kind of accomodation and help from the female nurses that I know are more helpful to me?