Haircut Mayhem - Autism Spectrum Message Board

panchomax · 04-23-2009, 06:11 AM

Hi, my beautiful son was diagosed 4 mths ago at 3.5yrs with high-functioning autism. I feel its an absolute privilege to be the mother of such a unique, quirky, interesting loving little boy. In fact I find myself in awe of him. He knew his alphabet at 2.5 yrs & also has fantastic number recognisation thanks to his obsession of deal or no deal! He can also name any brand of car & mobile phone. His obsessions include the yellow pages directory, women, recipes & allphones magazines, computors, t.v commercials & the nintendo wii. However he has a real fear of hair cuts. We have had hairdressers in the past refuse to cut his hair because of the chaos. It was just to dangerous as he struggled, screamed & cried so much. If we were lucky enough to get through a haircut while I restrained him, by having him sit on my knee & holding his hands down, he would come out looking like a little monkey because the hair had stuck to his little tear-stained face. I even tried to cut his hair while he took his nap, but I was was only getting chunks here & there. My speech therapist suggested I make a social story. So I went & took photos of the hair salon & hairdresser I intended to use & made it into a short story. I read it to him 2 days before we were going to go. I also thought what was his most recent obsession which was the nintendo wii. I went to a shop & ask them for an empty display box, so I could take it to the hairdressers with me, unbeknown to my son. We approaceh the salon &he seemed to be getting a little anxious, but just before he was about to let out a scream. I produced the empty wii box. Well you wouldn't believe it, he didn't shed one tear while getting his hair cut. All the hairdressers that already knew my son could not believe it, as I also couldn't belive it. Honestly I think I was the proudest Mum in the world that day. Who knows what the next haircut might bring, but I'm hoping if I follow along those same guidelines it might be another success!!! ( My next big issue is to now tackle toilet training!)

Liamsmom · 04-23-2009, 11:00 AM

What a big triumph for you and your son.Does your son have sensory issues? My son was the same way when he was younger. When he finally got over the haircut thing I asked him what it was all about and he said the sound of the clippers so close to his already sensitive ears and the feeling of the hair on his face and neck. That stuff still bothers him but he handles it. You'll see he'll overcome lots of the things that may be issues now however other ones may pop up and you'll both find your way through those also.

panchomax · 04-23-2009, 02:56 PM

Yes my son does have sensory issues. He will only eat certain foods, but thank goodness they are all heathy. He has eaten mashed veg with finely cut meat every night for the last 2yrs. lol. He absolutely refuses any junk food. Yah~! How old is your son now?

Liamsmom · 04-23-2009, 04:05 PM

He's 7 now, and in an inclusive class in the first grade. He's not officially Aspergers diagnosed yet but it'll be any time now. He also has some OCD stuff going on but all in all things are so much easier now than when he was younger. Now I know what's what and I can make sure he gets everything he needs in school and that everyone knows what his issues are. He has a group of wonderful patient friends on our block that are all accepting of his little ways and include him in all that is going on at the time so it's all working ou quite nice.

panchomax · 04-23-2009, 07:40 PM

What do you mean by he hasn't been diagnosed as Asperger's yet? Do you mean that he has overcome alot of issues so they are changing the diagnoses? Because that would be very positive. Also do you have any other children? I have twins who turn 2 yrs next month, they are not on the spectrum though. I now have 3 kids to toilet train as the twins are showing alot of interest, but my HFA still isn't!