In this series, The Arc of Massachusetts will be spotlighting Operation House Call Students of the Month. Each month, we will be profiling one student who has taken part in OHC and shared the impact that the program has had on them.
This month, we’re featuring two students – a nutrition student, and a PT student – from the interdisciplinary program at Simmons University, a longstanding partner of Operation House Call.
As a nutrition student, I was especially struck by J’s challenges around food. She has significant food aversions and eats only a few specific meals: cheese pizza, grilled cheese on wheat, and beef hot dogs. The mother described sensory-based aversions so intense that J cannot even look at a salad without physically turning away. This made me realize that for individuals with autism, nutrition is never simply about ‘picky eating’, it is more likely a complex intersection of sensory processing and behavioral needs. I learned that patience, gradual introduction, and creativity are sometimes the most realistic and compassionate strategies to support these families.
This was an extremely valuable experience for me. I was able to understand J’s family not just from a clinical or healthcare perspective, but also gain deeper insight into their daily life and family dynamics, beyond what can be observed in a clinical setting. … This experience made me realize that in my future practice and life, I will strive to approach families with a more comprehensive perspective, actively listening to their voices and understanding their daily realities, not just focusing on the clinical aspects, but also recognizing their practical needs and challenges in everyday life.”
[Mom] shared stories of their different care experiences that reminded us how in order to be the best practitioners we can be, it is a necessity to consistently communicate adjustments of verbiage or body language that will positively impact patient care whether it’s to the front desk staff or to the next medical professional they may be seeing in their health care network.
Advocating for our patients’ needs is critical to fostering patent success, self- efficacy, and real continuity of care. All people living with [diagnosis] have different symptoms, experiences, and challenges that they’ll face in their daily lives. Remembering always to put the individual first and meet them where they’re at was another huge takeaway this meeting has emphasized for me.
Finally, I wanted to reflect on the power of community. [Mom] spoke of several families living in their public school district who have family members living with this syndrome, just like J. Hearing about how that has impacted her access to enriching education and how [the family’s] involvement in this community has changed their experience really stood out to me. Fostering community in our patients is a great tool that we can utilize, whether that’s caregiver support groups, or just consistent, quality interdisciplinary care, it’s critical that we keep learning and connecting our patients to the systems that can best support their success.”
