| Author | |
melanie
Forum All-Star
Joined: June 28 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 563
|
| Posted: Aug 22 2009 at 5:56pm | IP Logged
|
 |
|
What can you do with a probably autistic boy and a haircut?!
We have only done a handfull of these in his almost 5 years. Thankfully my babies are born almost bald, and we were able to avoid a haircut altogether until almost three. Then we took him to a couple of different places...a hairdresser, a barber...it was terrible, and the people never wanted to do him again. He screams and carries on and basically has to be forced..it gets worse instead of better. Each time we cut it short and waited as long as possible between cuts. The last couple I've done myself. I cut my husbands hair and my 9yo's hair with clippers all the time, so I decided to do this child's too...it's terrible and ridiculous. I just now tried it and gave up. We can't hold him down and still have access to his head, kwim? Now he's half cut and looks like he has mange or something. What are you supposed to do?? I guess he'll just have long hair, but I wish he had hair that would grow long nicely....he doesn't have my fine straight hair, but my husband's coarse, not quite wavy hair that looks great nice and short but grows out really weird and thick. Anyone have any ideas?
__________________
Melanie
homeschooling Maria (13yo), Kain (10yo), Jack (5yo), Tess (2yo), and our newest blessing, Henry Robert, born 4/23!
slightlycrunchycatholic.blogspot.com
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
folklaur
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 07 2005
Location: N/A
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2816
|
| Posted: Aug 22 2009 at 6:01pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
we took our autistic son to one of those kids hair cut places where he got to play video games. it distracted him enough, plus, they are geared to kids in general. it costs more, but it was worth it.
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
melanie
Forum All-Star
Joined: June 28 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 563
|
| Posted: Aug 22 2009 at 6:23pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I just saw those online...unfortunately, the closest one is 3 hours away!! haha!
although, I may be desperate enough for that someday...
__________________
Melanie
homeschooling Maria (13yo), Kain (10yo), Jack (5yo), Tess (2yo), and our newest blessing, Henry Robert, born 4/23!
slightlycrunchycatholic.blogspot.com
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
mom3aut1not
Forum All-Star
Joined: May 21 2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 757
|
| Posted: Aug 22 2009 at 8:47pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Fortunately for us, my autistic ds needed haircuts starting at 3.5 months. He did have trouble with them as he grew older, but I found he coped better at Cartoon Cuts which has tvs to distract the kids.
Other hints (culled from experience with four diagnosed ASD people)
1. Find a *calm* barber/hairdresser. This is essential. If the barber or hairdresser is nervous or stressed, the child will be stressed as well. Also, go at times when there are as few customers as possible. This cuts down on the sounds the child has to deal with.
2. Different clippers have different hums. Some should be more tolerable than others if your son is sensitive to sound. If you find a barber with quieter or more tolerable clippers, you have found a treasure. You might experiment with different clippers yourself....
3. Take him with you without getting a haircut. Make it brief and then give him a treat. (I believe this is called the Premack principle.) Try to increase the time and then move to an actual haircut. (Yes, my son gets a reward for a haircut or shoe-buying without fuss.)
Personally, the biggest challenge was/is not haircuts for us -- it's toenail clipping. I remember my father, my mother, and me all sitting on my teenage autistic brother while he shrieked and tried to get us all off while his toenails were clipped. At least two of the other ASD kids had big problems with that as well. One still does; the other can do her own. (Whew!)
Good luck!
In Christ,
__________________
Deborah
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
molly
Forum Pro
Joined: Jan 09 2009
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 285
|
| Posted: Aug 22 2009 at 9:23pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
My ds has not been diagnoed, but he goes ballistic when we cut his hair.
So we
1 do it ourselves
2 remain very calm, stop ALOT, and have him watch his older brother get the same hair cut right before him.
3 talk the entire cut, in a soft voice, trying to bring him back to the present.
4 Buzz cut- so we only have to do this maybe 4 times a year.
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
4 lads mom
Forum All-Star
Joined: Sept 26 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1944
|
| Posted: Aug 23 2009 at 10:37pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
No advise, Melanie...but much empathy and prayers!!!
__________________
Mom of four brave lads and one sweet lassie
Scenes From This and That
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Willa
Forum All-Star
Joined: Jan 28 2005
Location: California
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 3881
|
| Posted: Aug 24 2009 at 12:04am | IP Logged
|
|
|
A couple of links here and here
My son's fear of hair cuts hasn't been quite as strong your son's -- now, nail clipping, that's a completely different story! -- but the things that have helped him to feel better about haircuts are:
--Doing the haircuts at home.
--Doing them the quick and unceremonious way! Especially at first! We'd do lots of quick "token" clippings.
--Having the role model of his brothers and dads getting haircuts at home -- encouraging him to get involved in the process by holding the comb, sweeping up the hair, whatever he could tolerate.
---Making the haircuts frequent enough so they were relatively routine (this goes with the "quick and unceremonious" -- I thought of haircuts as an ongoing process, like Flylady's house maintenance)
---Bribes/rewards afterwards. M and Ms are popular.
---Distracting him by letting him watch a favorite show, play a game etc. Or sour chewy candy to distract from the sensory overload!
---Making a big deal about what a big boy he is getting a haircut (this kid loves praise -- for another kid in my family with similar issues this would be a stressor).
Trying to figure out what about the process is scaring him, and minimize that. This kid got freaked out by the vacuuming of the hair; another son of mine with sensory integration issues got freaked out by the sight and feeling of the hair falling on and around him.
__________________
AMDG
Willa
hsing boys ages 11, 14, almost 18 (+ 4 homeschool grads ages 20 to 27)
Take Up and Read
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Anneof 5
Forum Pro
Joined: June 10 2006
Location: N/A
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 217
|
| Posted: Aug 24 2009 at 3:56pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Oh, I feel your pain! It isn't so much haircuts as the weekly hair care that we need to do for our dd8, who has sensory issues. It still continues to be a battle but with her sensory issues and her very tight curly African-American hair, we have tried a few things.
We worked with our OT and she gave us strategies for coping. She made a "stop " and "go" sign that she could raise when she needed a break. We had her sit on a vibrating pillow, suck candy, watch favorite movies. Actually the time it worked best was when she was watching a kind of action packed Spiderman movie. For some reason that one worked like a charm (maybe she transferred her pain to the characters?). She recommended combing/doing something to her hair daily to get her more accustomed to having her hair touched.
It still isn't all solved....she has never been to a salon as I haven't found someone who can deal with her yet. I wish OT's had more recommendations of people to deal with kids with these issues. It is a constant source of stress in our relationship.
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
melanie
Forum All-Star
Joined: June 28 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 563
|
| Posted: Aug 25 2009 at 1:24pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Thanks everyone...I may try another swipe this week. He seems to handle getting the top done ok, which is an improvement, but getting anywhere near his ears or neck is a big issue. He seems afraid that the clippers are going to cut him, and doesn't believe me that they won't!
Toenails...yeah, he hates that too. I keep a pair of nail clippers in my car and will trim them when he falls asleep in the car. It works nicely because he hates wearing shoes and always kicks them off in the car, lol. Sometimes he wakes up...sometimes I can get a nail or two done before he wakes. His fingernails seem to stay pretty short...he must have my fingernails. I never trim mine, nor do I bite them...they are very thin and just kind of peel away when they grow past the ends of my fingers.
__________________
Melanie
homeschooling Maria (13yo), Kain (10yo), Jack (5yo), Tess (2yo), and our newest blessing, Henry Robert, born 4/23!
slightlycrunchycatholic.blogspot.com
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
stefoodie
Forum Moderator
Joined: Feb 17 2005
Location: Ohio
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 8457
|
| Posted: Aug 25 2009 at 1:47pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
my now-13-yo hated haircuts as a child. a couple of things that worked for us:
1. i cut his hair while he was sleeping. granted, this made for some funny looking haircuts, but for the most part, it worked.
2. movie and the promise of a treat, sometimes two treats -- one halfway through the process and another one near the end. treat = candy or a small toy
3. daddy holding him while i cut his hair. for a while there, this was the only way we could get him to sit still.
4. NO razors, absolutely. to this day he prefers the scissors, but he's grown to tolerate the razor. i think when he was little the sound alone scared him.
you've received great suggestions -- i wish i had this forum back then!
hth!
__________________
stef
mom to five
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
LisaR
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 07 2005
Location: N/A
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2226
|
| Posted: Aug 25 2009 at 3:21pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
cut the hair outside!! dh cuts all of the boys hair and his own.
He cuts the boys hair outside pretty much year round (we have an outlet on our back patio for the clippers).
the birds, wind, everything else going on outside tends to distract them, and even the noise seems not so loud outside.
We've often observed fairly tame birds collecting hair for a nest, and cleaning up the hair is not necessary. 
__________________
Lisa
dh Tim '92
Joseph 17
Paul 14
Thomas 11
Dominic 8
Maria Gianna 5
Isaac Vincent 9/21/10! and...
many little saints in heaven!
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
At_His_Feet
Forum Pro
Joined: April 28 2007
Location: Australia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 304
|
| Posted: Aug 27 2009 at 5:26am | IP Logged
|
|
|
What great ideas!
An Aussie ASD teacher named Sue Larkey suggests that we not call it a hair cut! Cutting is usually associated with pain.
It has gotten better a lot for our 5 year old. When it was an ordeal we'd just settle for cutting the front and sides if poss. and lots of short visits to the barber.
I delegated and asked dh or Grandma to take him! 
__________________
Tricia
Mum to 3 boys 17, 15, and 10.
Do whatever He tells you
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
KC in TX
Forum All-Star
Joined: Aug 05 2005
Location: Texas
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2621
|
| Posted: Aug 27 2009 at 8:48am | IP Logged
|
|
|
We take my son so a place with the video games. It works great. He cried for the first 4 years of haircuts. Then he stopped. I would wait a LONG time between haircuts. Now, the video game keeps him from wiggling too much.
__________________
KC,
wife to Ben (10/94),
Mama to LB ('98)
Michaela ('01)
Emma ('03)
Jordan ('05)
And, my 2 angels, Rose ('08) and Mark ('09)
The Cabbage Patch
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
bshipp
Forum Newbie
Joined: Nov 05 2009
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1
|
| Posted: Nov 05 2009 at 5:17pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
how bout' hippy-hair? <jk>
glad to see you on here! 
Brandie
Texas
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
4Real Forums : Special Blessings
Topic: haircuts....and the 7th circle of hell
