Faculty mentor/PI email address
jim010@aol.com
Is your research Teaching and Learning based?
1
Keywords
Sensory adaptation; Emergency Department design; Autism spectrum disorder; Complex adaptive systems; Patient-centered care; Environmental modification;
Date of Presentation
5-6-2026 12:00 AM
Poster Abstract
Children with genetic syndromes and other neurodevelopmental conditions frequently present to the Emergency Department (ED) with sensory vulnerabilities that complicate evaluation and treatment in high-stimulus environments. While experienced clinicians often adapt instinctively to meet these needs, such adaptations may be inconsistently applied and may also be highly individual provider dependent. We present a case involving a child with a genetic syndrome affecting auditory and visual systems to illustrate how small environmental, relational, temporal, and cognitive adjustments can prevent escalation and enable routine care delivery without specialized resources.
We propose reframing sensory-adaptive care not as an exceptional accommodation but as a needed system behavior within a complex adaptive clinical environment. By lowering the activation energy required for adaptive care—through early identification, environmental modulation, communication sequencing, and team alignment—Emergency Departments can improve reliability of humane care across diverse pediatric populations. These principles are broadly generalizable to patients with autism spectrum disorder, developmental delay, anxiety, trauma exposure, and other sensory-vulnerable states.
Good sensory-adaptive care already exists in Emergency Departments. The challenge is not invention, but design
Disciplines
Congenital, Hereditary, and Neonatal Diseases and Abnormalities | Medicine and Health Sciences | Other Mental and Social Health
Included in
Congenital, Hereditary, and Neonatal Diseases and Abnormalities Commons, Other Mental and Social Health Commons
Designing for Difference: A Systems Approach to Sensory-Adaptive Care in the Emergency Department
Children with genetic syndromes and other neurodevelopmental conditions frequently present to the Emergency Department (ED) with sensory vulnerabilities that complicate evaluation and treatment in high-stimulus environments. While experienced clinicians often adapt instinctively to meet these needs, such adaptations may be inconsistently applied and may also be highly individual provider dependent. We present a case involving a child with a genetic syndrome affecting auditory and visual systems to illustrate how small environmental, relational, temporal, and cognitive adjustments can prevent escalation and enable routine care delivery without specialized resources.
We propose reframing sensory-adaptive care not as an exceptional accommodation but as a needed system behavior within a complex adaptive clinical environment. By lowering the activation energy required for adaptive care—through early identification, environmental modulation, communication sequencing, and team alignment—Emergency Departments can improve reliability of humane care across diverse pediatric populations. These principles are broadly generalizable to patients with autism spectrum disorder, developmental delay, anxiety, trauma exposure, and other sensory-vulnerable states.
Good sensory-adaptive care already exists in Emergency Departments. The challenge is not invention, but design