Facial on a severely autistic client

[Rose85]

I was just hoping for a bit of advice.
I have a young male client who has severe Autism. He is unable to communicate with me but loves his facials and they calm him down (he is generally quite agitated most of the time from what his Mum tells me.)
His Mum brings him in, helps me to make sure he is settled on the bed, sits in for ten minutes and then leaves to go and do some shopping and returns at the end to pick him up.
The last couple of times I have felt like he is trying to communicate with me and, I really hope I don't sound insensitive, but I really struggle to understand and I feel quite worried that he is uncomfortable, or there is a problem.
So my question is, would you ask his Mum to stay for the whole treatment as she seems to be able to read what is wrong when he tries to communicate. I have thought about getting one of the nail lamps in the corner of my treatment room and a few magazines for her so she is comfortable and not bored. I just want myself and my client to both feel comfortable and relaxed.
Thanks everyone.

 

[lisa nails]

How old is this client? And when you say severe,does he sign? Or is he non communitive?

Sent from my HTC Desire 300 using SalonGeek mobile app

 

[Rose85]

He's non communicative. He's 22 x

 

[lisa nails]

Ok, so ive worked with autism alot,and have a child with autism, i personally would not allow the mother to leave the salon, autism can be a very unstable condition,anything can trigger a meltdown off,if there was an emergency and you had to leave the building your responsible for him till mother can return,i would say that due to insurance purposes she cannot leave the building,its fab that hes relaxes with you,your obviously triggering his calm mode,i feel if he was uncomfortable he would show this,as his age he would of found ways by now of expressing sad,happy,hurting etc etc x x

Sent from my HTC Desire 300 using SalonGeek mobile app

 

[squidgernetball]

I'd also want the mother to stay.

Vic x

Sent from my GT-I9505 using SalonGeek mobile app

 

[Emily S]

Completely agree with Lisa, you'll never know when a melt down may occur and she should be there.

Difficult though as it may be her bit of free time to just shop alone but if he can't communicate it's not really fair on him or yourself.

Good luck x

Sent from my D6503 using SalonGeek mobile app

 

[harmonyholistic]

Yes I would ask mum to stay too. It's great that he likes his treatments as the other girls have said it doesn't take much to trigger a meltdown.
He would feel more comfortable. If mum was close by. That may be why he he is fidgety. I too have an autistic client. But he is high functioning. Plus I have two sons who are autistic but high functioning.

 

[kezcows]

Hey,
It's amazing what you are doing and opening up treatments to so many more people than Jo blogs.
I would also get the mother to stay. The man in question is classified as a vulnerable adult and unless you have a full police disclosure for vulnerable adults you are putting yourself in a tricky position if anything were to happen.
X

 

[nicole333]

How lovely to help someone have the chance to relax like this. I totally agree with what's been said and would also look at the consent side and capacity. If the communication between the two of you is done via his Mum, then she needs to stay for the duration.

 

[coco.]

I have worked with severely autistic young adults and in my experience you need his mother to stay with you.

For his safety as well as your own.

If he got very agitated and had an incident his mother would know how to help the situation, you would not and could make the situation worse.

I would definitely say next time could you stay as sometimes he tries to communicate and you find it difficult to understand him, as his mother she should be fine with it, she can maybe bring in a book to read to pass the time x