How To Be A Responsible Adult: Making an Appointment Edition

 

Making appointments can be challenging, especially when you have a disability of any kind.  Like it or not, sometimes it's best to be independent rather than codependent on others.  If you are able to, I recommend taking it one step at a time when and where you feel comfortable.

Taking initiative takes guts.  This is a part of advocating for yourself and your needs.  

We all need to go to the doctor at some point or another.  That phone call can be intimidating because you don't know what to say or how to say it.

How can you know what to say?  I'd recommend making yourself a calling script.  It can look like this:

"Hi, I'm calling as a patient of  Doctor (your doctor's name), and I was wondering if I could make an appointment ." *If they ask for the reason, make sure you give a 1-2 short explanation of why you are wanting to see the doctor*
Receptionist: "sure, can I get a name and date of birth?"
"Sure, it's (month, date, year) and my name is (share your name)."
Receptionist: (making an appointment)"Can I ask when you would like to come in?"
*Make sure you have your schedule in front of you and/or you talk to your ride about when they can take you* "Do you have any openings for a week from today in the morning? If not, what is your soonest appointment you have open?"
Receptionist: "We sure do. Make sure you come in with your medical insurance and an government ID." (some doctors offices want to make sure you are who you say you are and that your medical insurance is up to date)

Not too hard, right?  If it makes you feel better, I would practice calling with someone you trust like a caregiver, parent, or friend.

For me, getting myself motivated to call is the challenge that I am facing right now.  I've luckily gotten to the point where I am able to know what to say when I call. 

If you practice enough, you will be able to advocate for yourself.

What are your biggest challenges when it comes to doing simple things for yourself such as making doctors appointments? 

If you liked this blog post, PLEASE comment down below on what your favorite part was, and feel free to share it with your friends and family, etc.  If you have any comments, questions, etc. about what you were reading? Reach out to me by messaging me on Instagram or TikTok @neurospicyblondie or email me alyssa.onthespectrum@gmail.com for any inquiries.  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What Can I Control?

Image
  What is control?  The  psychology definition of the word control is a person's ability or perception of their ability to affect themselves, others, their conditions, their environment or some other circumstance. Control over oneself or others can extend to the regulation of emotions, thoughts, actions, impulses, memory, attention or experiences.   As an autistic individual, control can be a hard concept to manage.  Here's the thing, we have a realm of what we can and can't control.  Think of reacting to your emotions like reacting to the weather, but with a proper balance.  I don't like the snow, especially when it is dangerous.  I can't control how much or when it snows outside.  HOWEVER, I can control how I react to the snow.  I can be mad OR I can be prepared.  I can go out wearing shorts and a tank top and risk freezing my butt off OR I can wear my warmest set of clothes so I can regulate the warmth in my body that the w...
Read more

The Difficulty Of Adult Relationships + Being Autistic

Image
  I stated a couple days ago that I was dry on topics to write about.  Today, that changed a bit.  I have been contemplating on what to write about for the last couple of days.  I have had the unfortunate chance of being faced with a difficult moment in one of my relationships with one of my friends.  This caused me to think about the complexity of being an adult and having autism and how those come into play.   When you have a disability and that disability is autism, you have the typical social and communication challenges.  Now, add the complexity of being an adult.  Everyone knows that when you're an adult, you go through different kinds of relationships such as romantic and platonic.  This is a normal concept.  I'll say this: I've never been in a romantic relationship at all.  I've only been on three dates.  My last date was January 2019.  I've been single my whole life (27-1/2 years). That being said, I've gone ...
Read more

Being a Friend vs. Being Friendly: A Neurodivergent Struggle

Image
  Have you ever met someone and thought "oh, they're being nice to me! I should be their friend, and have it not work out?"  Honestly, same.  Being autistic and neurodiverse, it can be hard to identify if I should be friends with someone or friendly.  Here's a little secret I've learned in the 27 years of my life: it is OKAY to not be friends with EVERYBODY!! --sometimes, people aren't looking to make friends or they're not interested in being friends with you and  THAT'S OKAY !!   As much as we want to be friends with everyone, this isn't possible.  Seems rude, but sometimes if we push ourselves to be friends with people, it's not going to be in our favor.   What we can do, is be NICE  to others or just be friendly to them.  This doesn't mean we're best friends.  It just means we are respectful and kind to them. But Alyssa! How can I tell if someone is being my friend or not? Good question! I'm glad you asked!  Sometimes,...
Read more