Students with disabilities learn what to expect when visiting the hospital

A group of special needs students got the chance to learn about the healthcare system in a unique way. CTV’s Colton Wiens reports.

High school students with diverse learning and communication needs got a chance to check out the Cambridge Memorial Hospital on Thursday, to try and make accessing medical help easier for them.

The pilot project called Discovery Day is a partnership between the hospital and Waterloo Catholic District School Board. Students between 14-years-old and 21-years-old from Monsignor Doyle Catholic Secondary School went through four stations, used an aerosol mask, learned about IV administration, taking medication and putting on a cast.

“A lot of students didn’t have hospital experience or have had some negative hospital experience that were in emergency situations,” Stephanie Garibaldi-Alischer, community living teacher at Monsignor Doyle Catholic Secondary School, said. “So, the idea is that we would help support students with a comfort level coming here,”

“I learned today how to put on a cast on,” Sienna, a student said. “Help people to take care of their body.”

Students like Sienna picked a stuffed animal at the start of the day and worked through each station with them.

“This one’s got a cast on,” Sienna said about her stuffed buddy.

“It was very emotional actually, to see how much this has impacted the students,” Garibaldi-Alischer said.

The idea has been a few years in the making. It started with registered nurse Tara Farias, who works at the hospital. Her son Steven has autism and is non-verbal. She said he once cut his foot, but she couldn’t imagine bringing him into the hospital for stitches.

“It’s a very overstimulating area. I don’t have anything tangible to explain to him that it’s a friendly environment with people that are going to help him. I didn’t have anything to say, ‘It’s a welcoming place that we’re going to. We’re going to help fix your foot,’” Tara Farias said.

After spending a day at the hospital on Thursday, Farias said it already had an impact on Steven.

“Now I have a resource to say, ‘Listen, it’s okay. You can’t breathe? Remember.’ And then he’ll recall that friendliness,” Farias said.

“My son went right to that aerosol chamber and put [a mask] around his head. I can’t imagine how I would feel if he was struggling for air and would have to have this mask with a stranger in an environment he’s not used to,” Farias added.

Other high school students with special needs that are part of the hospitals SEARCH Program, another partnership with WCDSB, guided the students through each station and helped make the students feel comfortable in the environment.

“It was heartwarming. It really was,” Anthony, an intern with Project SEARCH said. “It was just pretty great seeing the smile on those kids’ faces. They looked like they were having a good time. And even we were having a good time. It was great,”

The board hopes to expand Discovery Day to more schools and inspire other communities to do the same.

“I’m going to work there before I finish school,” Sienna said. “Because I like to help people.”