Hospital or dentist waiting room: asking for quiet
A television is on in the corner. A door keeps closing. The light has a hum, and your name has not been called yet.
For a hospital or dentist visit, ideas people use include a quiet place to wait, the first or last slot of the day, and a text when it is your turn. A survey of autistic adults and guidance pages list these [1][2][3]. A sentence for the desk: "Could you text me when it's my turn? I'll wait outside."
If you feel unwell now, being seen comes first. The setup can come after.
Below are the ideas, what a survey adds, and sentences you can borrow and change.
What can make a waiting room hard on the senses?
In a 2022 online survey of 507 autistic adults, mostly in the UK and Ireland, about half named the waiting room as a barrier to seeing a GP (family doctor). Noise from other patients and a crowded room were the most common reasons [1]. A 2019 review of six studies also listed sensory sensitivities and communication with staff among the barriers autistic adults meet in physical healthcare [4].
If a waiting room feels like a lot, that fits what respondents in the survey described.
What can you ask for before the day?
Most of the ideas start with a call or a message before the visit. Phone booking was named as difficult by most of the autistic respondents in the survey [1], so making phone calls when it is hard may be useful alongside this.
The NHS pages cited here are for England. Services in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and other countries are set up differently, and the same options may not exist there.
Ideas that appear in the survey and on guidance pages:
- A quiet place to wait, or a quiet room. Respondents preferred a quiet place or waiting outside [1], and an NHS trust leaflet for staff, Oxford Health, suggests telling reception ahead so they can offer a quiet room [3].
- The first or last appointment of the day [1][2]. Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh's page lists it among its adjustments [5].
- A double slot, so the visit is not rushed. The National Autistic Society (NAS) suggests this for the dentist [2][6].
- A different way of being told it is your turn. Oxford Health's leaflet lists a phone call, a name on a screen or a receptionist calling you. It also describes waiting in the car or outside and getting a text when staff are ready [3]. NAS pages for dentists describe a similar idea [6].
- Asking whether the practice can make adjustments, and visiting beforehand to see the building and meet staff [2]. A visit takes extra energy, so it can be left out.
- Emailing the reason for the visit in advance, which respondents preferred [1].
Some UK hospitals also offer a sunflower lanyard or wristband, which is optional. One hospital's page says it tells staff the wearer has a disability that may not be visible, and that no specific service is guaranteed [7]. Schemes like this are not offered everywhere.
If calling is out of reach, some places take bookings or requests by email, online forms or through a person you trust.
What can you bring?
NAS suggests headphones and your own music for noisy equipment at the dentist, and plain water if a strong mouthwash bothers you [2]. Autism Central suggests ear defenders or sunglasses [8].
For telling staff what you need, NAS has a My health passport. It is a form you fill in online or by hand and bring to hospital visits [9]. A short note on your phone with your own words works the same way.
What can you say to staff?
Short sentences can sit in a phone note, ready to read out or show.
When booking:
"Waiting rooms are hard on my senses. Is there a quiet place to wait?"
When asking about a slot:
"Could I have the first appointment of the day?"
When asking how you will be called:
"Could you text me when it's my turn? I'll wait outside."
Before an examination or treatment:
"Could you tell me what you're about to do, before you do it?"
At the dentist, about noise:
"The equipment noise is hard for me. Could I wear my headphones?"
Some people agree a hand signal with the dentist for "pause".
NAS says you do not have to tell a dentist you are autistic, and that sharing it may help staff prepare [2].
What if the waiting place cannot change?
Some clinics have only one room. Some people choose a corridor, a bench outside or the car, and let reception know where they are, with a phone number so a missed call does not cost the slot. Headphones, ear defenders or sunglasses from the list above are things some people bring [2][8].
What about remembering a booked visit?
A booked time that is days away is easy to lose in a busy week. Some people set a calendar alert the day before, ask for a reminder text, and leave extra room around the visit so the day does not feel packed. Waiting can stretch time, and getting there is a task of its own, so extra room can matter.
"Could you send a reminder text the day before?"
What about after the visit?
After a visit, some people plan an empty stretch with nothing else in it. Sensory overload in adults and airports and travel with sensory sensitivity have more on busy places, and when something later today stops you starting covers the hours before an appointment.
About this article
- The ideas come from a survey and a review with autistic adults, and guidance from NAS (pages reviewed 2020) and from NHS pages in England, read on 18 October 2026. The sentences, the phone note, the hand signal, the email and online booking option, the waiting-place ideas, the reminders and the plan for after the visit are Mindum's own wording.
- The survey and review are with autistic adults and show what people find hard, not that an adjustment works for any one person. Trusts and clinics differ, so what is offered can differ too.
Sources
- Doherty M, Neilson S, O'Sullivan J, Carravallah L, Johnson M, Cullen W, Shaw SCK. Barriers to healthcare and self-reported adverse outcomes for autistic adults: a cross-sectional study. BMJ Open. 2022;12(2):e056904. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2021-056904
- National Autistic Society. Going to the dentist: autistic adults. Reviewed 2020. autism.org.uk
- Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust. Reasonable adjustments and autism: appointment at an Oxford Health venue. Leaflet for staff, updated January 2022. oxfordhealth.nhs.uk
- Mason D, Ingham B, Urbanowicz A, Michael C, Birtles H, Woodbury-Smith M, Brown T, James I, Scarlett C, Nicolaidis C, Parr JR. A systematic review of what barriers and facilitators prevent and enable physical healthcare services access for autistic adults. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 2019;49(8):3387-3400. doi:10.1007/s10803-019-04049-2
- Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Reasonable adjustments. Undated page. wwl.nhs.uk
- National Autistic Society. Dental care and autism: a guide for dentists. Reviewed 2020. autism.org.uk
- Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The hidden disabilities scheme. Undated page. lancsteachinghospitals.nhs.uk
- Autism Central. Healthcare for autistic people. Undated page. autismcentral.nhs.uk
- National Autistic Society. My health passport. Reviewed 2020. autism.org.uk
By Mindum. An app to track and regulate emotions, energy, and focus.
