hair cutting nightmare | Autism PDD

Hi everyone! Sorry for not visiting the board for long time.. really busy and not enough sleep/time these days.. I wish there were 48 hrs a day... Today.. right now.. finally I have some time to write to this board..( I love this board feel like I am visiting family...)

Anyway..

I need bunch of suggestions about my autistic son's hair cutting nightmare. I always try to calm him down for snipping by telling him "Doesn't hurt at all, just cutting hair to be looking good". I showed to him other kids having hair cut. I even cut my hair (little bit ) by myself to show him it is OK. but still my son cries really hard when I open the subject about cutting hair.

Do you have any way to make his cutting hair nightmare easier?

http://www.autism-pdd.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=949& PN=3

That is a link to a two page thread on haircuts. Alot of suggestions in there.

Tammy

We got a wonderful barber, and we went the first several times when he was not busy at all. The place was dead for hours, and he had nothing else to do. Then we eased them into it. We let them do what they were comfortable with. After about 6 times, now they are fine. They even wear the "cape" which TOTALLY freaked them out for the longest time!

Just find a great barber, and tip him REALLY well! (I used to tip him like 200% for all of his time and trouble, and because I was so thrilled they had a hair cut!)

Anyway, that was our experience... time, patience, and easing them into it... well, here I am in Germany without a lot of options for someone to cut Jakob's hair (for the first time) that can actually speak english, I started calling the beauty shops on post yesterday to see who would be willing to try , and luckily, the first girl I called told me she had actually gone into the local schools in the area to cut autistic kid's hair (learning process for them and her) and that I was lucky I called her first! She told me to just give her a few minutes notice when he seems to be in the best mood, and bring him in...don't even need an appointment, we'll try it and see how it goes. I'm very excited, we are going to try tomorrow...maybe he'll actually look like a boy soon, but I am gonna miss his beautiful curls

Good luck Stephane Hope it turns out well. If you have a weighted vest try taking it for him during the cut maybe it will help. Save the curls too!

Let us know how it goes!

ALSO try talking to them about their favorite thing if its pokemon or volcanos or whatever maybe if they hear something they are obsessed with the will be focused on listening... allow them to hold a favorite item in their hand or give them a squeeze stress ball or fidget item to hold. Offer a "secret code" for them to indicate when they are ready to start and when they need a "break" before continuing.

Hair cuts are difficult. Some kids like to watch what is being done to them in the mirror... others dont want to see it as it is more traumatic... experiment, have them turned away first... if they freak ask if it woul dhelp them "SEE" what is being done

Have someone touch the mirror and say SEE look thats you see she is making you loook handsome (or pretty for girls LOL

Never an easy solution... I know someone once said they had an expensive hair cutting attachment that automatically sucked up the hair as it was cut... that would be awesome for my son as he flaps his hands at his head and neck and scratched because of the hair falling on him (not liking the light touch?) Possibly trying to de sensitize with a feather touching him forst may work... think I might try that next time) He also cant stand the sound of the clippers and he has course hair (hes hispanic) so he alays gets a high and tight that needs cut every 4 weeks. Hes dealing better with sound now... maybe because he loves his hair right after its cut. I do it myself and always remind him of the buzzing sound, ask when hes ready and we listen to it first we touch the "blade" to remember it wont hurt us and then I ask if hes ready to start and remind him to sit still. I have to take small breaks for him and I try to catch the falling hair in my hand and throw it on the floor so it doesnt fall on him... we cut in his underware so he can go straight in the shower afterward. Powder helps with the itch.... he always turns red from it. Im wondering as I think about this about having them hold a game boy with a video in it or a cd player with favorite music or relaxing nature sounds and have them wear head phones or ear plugs to help drown out the sound. Ear buds wouldnt get in the way... head phone could be worn in reverse or moved to do each section (top of the head to do the back around neck to do top of the head)...

I guess you just have to keep searching to find something that works for your child