My son just called and said that Drake pitched a royal fit AGAIN and wouldn't let them cut his hair. Any tried and true tricks that you've used with your "fear of haircut" kids?

They have special haircutting salons just for kids where they have TV'S and seats shaped like airplanes etc. My son however never went for it and I wind up cutting his hair when he slept as a baby and 9 times out of 10 he'd walked around with half a haircut for a few days. as he got older I just bribe him. :bouncing:

ROYAL FIT, is a good description. That is what Drew has always been like in a salon chair. Drew will be 4 in October. The last haircut went without a hitch. The lady gave him a blow-dryer to hold, turned on Hi cool. For Drew its the sound of his hair being cut that drives him into a pitiful, crying mess. It was amazing. This is the first time he has been able to get a "big boy" haircut in his life.
It works for him. I wish you luck with Drake.

Thank you so much for your ideas. Jon ended up bringing Drake here, and we sat him up in a highchair with his favorite video. We ended up with a strange looking haircut, one of those you mentioned that might take a few days to even out. I did watch the process (and played willing target to the spray bottle that Drake was playing with as a distraction), and noticed that he complained of it hurting and got upset when the metal hit the metal on the scissors. The idea of using the blow dryer is great! I do think it is the sound that gets to him. Drew's Gram, have you heard of the book Sound of a Miracle? I am wondering if maybe after we get Drake through the AIT if maybe his sensitvity to that sound may diminish.... Speaking of AIT, I emailed Annabel, the author of the book, and shared with her about Drake's freaking out and taking the headphones off. She related a few similar cases that she had witnessed, but said that you have to get them through that first session, and then they usually don't object after that. The potential payoff is so good that the initial response has to be worked through. It kind of reminded me of the adjustment they went through giving Drake B-12 shots.

with isaac i did the whole while he slept thing and the funny do's that got a snip here and a snip there and then i gave up completely and bought a pair of clippers and he likes the buzzy noise and will actually help run it through his hair. if you set it to the longer settings it doesnt even look like he is pre-enlisted for boot camp;) we had to switch to the clippers for safety reasons because he would jerk when he heard the snip of scissors because THAT noise bothered him:) go figure:) food for future thought if those scissors become too much for him:)

Thanks, Liz. I SO appreciate having these boards to come to for advice and support. I wondered if the sound would be different enough for him that it might be okay.

I have read your posts about the book, Sound of a Miracle. I'm going to get a copy. It sounds very interesting. Thank you for your input.

When my son was young, we ended up purchasing one of those haircutter devices that attach to the vac cleaner. You attach a spacer & the cutting part is safely protected, turn on the vac & more or less slowly "vacuum" all over the child's head.

This was the only way we could safely accomplish major haircuts, up until about 10 yrs. of age. DS seemed unable to inhibit jerk reactions during pro or home haircuts, which made the normal process very unsafe. An additional benefit of the vac cutter was the loud noise sort of mesmerized/paralysed DS.

Most people use these devices on pets, but ours was an exclusively human-dedicated tool. The result wasn't perfect, but better than pro/home attempts, and it was acceptable.

In my opinion I wouldnt take him to a hairdresser. I go through this with my son thats almost 4 since before we knew anything was wrong with him. i now give him haircute at home muself becouse there less tramatizing for him. He would totally freak out the moment he relized we were walking in there. For some reason its so scarry for them. I think its a sensory issure for my some the hair touching him or the cape either way. I have to keep his hair very short at home but at lewast this way I can do it and make him slightly more comfortable. Hes the same way with baths.

My 3 almost 4 year old son did the same thing. He would cry even if we drove past a hair salon. (this is before we found out that he had PDD) He would run from me when I thought that I could do it myself. I finally bought myself an electric hair clipper and called my salon and asked what setting I should use. When my son was in deep sleep I would trim his hair then. He looked funny for a couple of years until he got over his fear, but it did the trick. :jester:

A friend of mine who has an autistic son, said that she would have him sit backworks on the seat of the toilet and let him use the toilet tank as a "table" to draw or do whatever while she cut his hair. Hope this helps..
Good luck!

One thing you could try (depending on his age) is doing mock haircuts at home. The thing about haircuts and dentist visits and doctor visits are that they don't occur on a daily basis, so autistic children can't adjust to them easily, and are not exposed to it, and often don't know what is expected of them.

For a mock haircut, I'd do everything that a regular hairdresser would do (spray hair with water, PRETEND to cut with scissors, etc etc), and I'd do this on a daily or 3 times a week basis (all depending on your schedule) so that you child can get used to it (desensitization). This will work if your child is on the younger side (younger than 6 or so). If your kid is older, I'd do social stories. Go take pictures of the hair salon your child goes to, and make a story that your child can read, that explains exactly what goes on during a hair cut, and what he can expect. It gives the child an understanding of what will happen.

I have used both these strategies in my work with autistic children, and they are both successful. Good luck!