Unfamiliar clinical environments may cause anxiety and uncertainty for children and families. These challenges are greater for children with developmental differences, communication challenges or those accessing remote outreach services. NT Hearing Services developed a number of social stories to prepare families for audiology appointments across urban and remote settings.
The social stories use simple language, visual supports and step-by-step explanations to describe clinical processes during hearing assessments. Social stories were made for urban clinics, remote clinics, newborn hearing screening and auditory brainstem response (ABR) testing. These resources provide families with consistent information, support familiarity with procedures and reduce anxiety.
Social stories represent a practical, family centred strategy for improving accessibility, patient understanding and healthcare experiences.