Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/1496639
What You Can Do There are easy accommodations you can make for anyone who has visual sensitivities or processing issues. • Sunglasses. If a client chooses to wear sunglasses in the waiting area or other nontreatment-related spaces, don't ask the client why they're wearing sunglasses. Instead, let them know it's OK to wear them in the treatment room as well. • Eye masks. Invest in and provide either washable or disposable eye masks for your treatment room. Cotton rounds are a relatively inexpensive alternative to disposable eye masks: simply place one on each eye while your client is supine. Your neurotypical clients who want to be massaged in cave-like darkness will love you for this. Just make sure you read the section on tactile sensitivities before purchasing a set of eye masks, especially disposable ones, for your clients. You don't want to alleviate the light sensitivity by triggering a tactile one. Alternatively, you could let them bring one from home to use in your office. • Keep lighting levels as low as is safe. Eliminate bright or fluorescent lighting. If you can't eliminate it, provide an alternate, low-wattage light source. • Be intentional and consent-seeking if you do any type of guided imagery with clients. Ask if they'd like to do a guided visualization or meditation. If they're open to it, ask them to imagine the scene rather than visualize it. • Use at least a 12-point font in your client communications. This applies to both printed and web- based text. • Use bullet points. Many people, both neurodivergent and neurotypical, have difficulty reading long blocks of text. • Use dyslexic-friendly fonts wherever and whenever you can. 3 Auditory Many neurodivergent people have auditory processing disorder (APD). There are five types of APD, 4 and it's common for neurodivergent people with APD to have more than one type. The symptoms of APD can manifest in many ways, but the following are the ones you're likely to encounter in your office: • Difficulty discriminating one sound from another, including differentiating background noise (including white noise) from conversation 58 m a s s a g e & b o d y wo r k m ay/ j u n e 2 0 2 3 Get Ahead of the Sensory Issue You won't be able to tell if someone has a sensory sensitivity just by looking at them, so it's important to ask. Some simple additions to your health history or intake form will be immeasurably helpful for all your clients. Then, follow up or clarify their answers in your verbal intake: • Are you sensitive to light? • Are you sensitive to sounds? • Are you sensitive to smells? • Do you get hot easily or have trouble cooling down? • Do you get cold easily or have trouble warming up? • Do you have an aversion to xyz fabrics [name your regular sheet and blanket fabrics]? • Do you have an aversion to xyz fabrics [name your alternate sheet and blanket fabrics]? • Do you have an aversion to being touched on any of the following: scalp, face, neck, back, arm, hand, leg, foot? • What kind of pressure do you prefer? Light, medium/firm, deep, unsure, this is my first massage/haven't experienced a pressure I really like.