Callista

To someone with sensory sensitivity, a shower can feel like being pelted with hail... It's not fun.

I personally didn't take showers regularly until I was in college--let's hope your son gets used to them sooner! I'm going to brainstorm some ideas.

Is it possible to pour the water over him, instead? This might be a bit better. How about a tub bath, with him standing rather than sitting, so the water can be poured over him with a jug? If he can pour it himself, it might be even more helpful.

Something that helps sensory sensitivity a great deal is to give the child control over whatever's bugging him. I think if you can get him to wash himself--even just a little--it might calm him a bit. It would give him a chance to kind of prepare for what's coming--it's not so overwhelming if it's expected.

What's the texture of your washrag like? Terrycloth can be a problem for some kids--it never was for me; my big Eeee! is polyester. But it can be pretty rough. Try an old dish towel instead--that may be softer. (Old=more worn out, thus softer.)

Also, the feel of water on the skin can be bothersome. Going from dry to wet can really overload you--I still have to mentally prepare myself before stepping under the shower. A handheld shower might help--he can stick his hand under first, then an arm and a leg... Kind of the way you step into a cold swimming pool slowly. The water pressure shouldn't be too high, either--too high, and it stings your skin.

He may not like tub baths because of the feeling of being surrounded by water. I had trouble with that mostly when I was asked to do dishes, because the water was soapy and there were little food particles in it that I couldn't predict when they'd touch my hands. But simple soapy water could bug your son--you see, water's always moving, and you get constant sensory input from it. It's more dense than air, so there's more input. If this is your son's problem, he might also be over-sensitive to wind...

Bottom line: There are a lot of little things that could be bugging him, that don't bug most people. But the worst thing you can do is just not make him take baths--because if you do that (as my mom did), he will not have a chance to grow used to them. Since bathing is so important to social acceptance--especially once the teen years hit and body odor becomes a factor--every child has to be taught to tolerate it. Eventually, if you are lucky, he will not like the feeling of being dirty, and tolerate showers because he knows he'll feel better when he finishes: That's what happened to me, and now I take showers on average twice every three days.