Comfortable and practical shoes for sen child.

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My son has got into the habit of taking off his shoes repeatedly at school , it's a reaction to him being unable to tolerate this heat we believe. Before he started removing his shoes he was wearing velcro and mesh running shoes , we believe he found these comfortable as his gait was good and no blisters. We've started putting him in converse style baseball boots so that he cannot take them off , but he hates them and is pretty much on the cusp of a meltdown by the time he arrives at school. We've tried closed toe sandals as a cooler compromise, but he removes these too.

Does anyone have any recommendations for some more suitable footwear , something light , easy to put on but hard for him to take off. For reference , he's 6 , autistic and non verbal and normally loves school.

Crocs are the only footwear my DS with SEN will even entertain putting on his feet!

Interesting. Which kind of crocs?

The classics ones most of the year -

www.crocs.co.uk/p/kids-classic-clog/206991.html

These boots when raining or very cold -

www.crocs.co.uk/p/kids-classic-neo-puff-boot/207275.html?cgid=kids-big-footwear&cid=0DA#&origin=category&srule=Just%20for%20You&start=41&sz=43

My DS can't stand hot feet and would constantly remove any other shoe and walk around in socks, he says his feet don't get hot in these.
School weren't overly pleased but I put my foot down and they did eventually agree that it was more of a health and safety issue if he's wearing no shoes at all.

Thank you , and I agree on the school issue. It's either the shoes he finds comfortable or no shoes , same goes for clothing. He won't wear the uniform collared shirts so wears a plain t shirt instead. Thankfully his school are pretty good with sen training the staff so I've very few problems wrt being understood.

I've ordered some closed toe sandals with a buckle fastening , fingers crossed they are acceptable to him.

Fingers crossed!

My son does this he's at a special schoo!.,they asked me to.buy him boots which he stull.won't wear ,they have bought.him a pair if crocs for walking around school.but im.not sure ,if he keeps them on he always seems to.be bare foot on picture I see on dojo,he's 13 severely autistic ,non verbal.etc.

Thank you. I understand, its tricky isn't it? My son is in a free flow environment and can run outside freely so we need to find something he can wear. I might try crocs , but I fear he'll take them off too.

You can buy knock off Crocs in Lidl at the moment for about £4 in kids sizes. Maybe worth a go?

It's definitely worth a go. I'll try anything and donate what doesn't work.

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My SEN DD wears Geox shoes as they are breathable, and comfortable, she is very flat footed and loves being just in socks.

She wears these shoes all day at school.

Their trainers are really good also.

There are loads for sale on vinted as they are quite expensive in the shops and it can get too much spending money on a chance they will wear them.

Will he wear plimsolls.

Does he tolerate socks? Crocs without socks might be a bit sweaty in this heat. The dots might irritate him too. Have a look at barefoot style shoes. They're expensive but they don't have arch support and are super lightweight with wide toe boxes so don't really feel like shoes. This website has lots of styles to give you an idea. Maybe Google the one you like to see if there's a cheaper price elsewhere.

www.happylittlesoles.co.uk/products/kids.html?p=2

He doesn't like socks and dislikes plimsolls too. Geox sounds promising. I'll have a look.

He does have wide feet so barefoot shoes could work.

If he has wide feet and doesn't like socks I suggest barefoot shoes. Most are leather/suede inside so much more comfortable on sweaty feet than plastic. I think he'll appreciate the wide toe box. A lot of SEN kids don't like the squeeze on their toes or the feeling of them all hugging so they end up feeling overwhelmed and pull them off. Geox used to be much better but it's hit and miss now.

Plimsolls tend to be quite tight so I'm not surprised he doesn't like them!

I really appreciate all of your responses , I'll get researching! Most people don't understand when I say I my child is melting down at school due to his shoes and that I'm too sleep deprived to process what I need to do to help him. Just another day as an sen mum I guess.

Don't worry. I can completely empathise with him though. No socks and converse sounds horrible in this heat. I would suggest sandles that cover the toe but that tends to attract rocks in the shoe so maybe skip on that. Have you tried no seam socks?

https://www.happylittlesoles.co.uk/froddo-barefoot-sandal-blue.html

These are the kind I mean. The velcro can be loosened too but I'd worry about the side holes getting sand and rocks in.

https://www.happylittlesoles.co.uk/be-lenka-kids-fluid-blue-grey.html

https://www.happylittlesoles.co.uk/be-lenka-kids-jolly-shoes-aqua-green.html

https://www.happylittlesoles.co.uk/be-lenka-kids-xplorer-shoes-blue-olive-black.html

Some other options that might work. All of these have very wide toe boxes and a textile/leather insole so much more comfortable on sweaty feet.

https://www.nike.com/gb/t/sunray-protect-3-younger-sandals-j4MGs9/DH9462-601?nikegos=true&cp=eunsADDPIF3DDCMPUKKBAUXCTTSHOPREVVMDH9462-601&cp=476587636344search%7C%7C10628703748%7C110516031048%7C%7Cc%7CEN%7Ccssproducts%7C4533173431166GEOZ&dsrl=1252249&gclid=Cj0KCQjwy9-kBhCHARIsAHpBjHjFgZhCCMuUymd7Yyt3gRa0Ygwf84nG6frGvz-i0ff0ArYOFeO3OXgaAvKUEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

We've got loads of pupils this year wearing these. It seems to have been the solution for so many of our show refusing pupils!!!!

I wondered if they'd come up as good on a SeN forum somewhere so many of our pupils have them!

So many great options. What is the fastening on the Nike sandals? The picture doesn't show it.

I like the barefoot ones , especially the toggle fastening. They look very practical.

The Nike sandles fasten with velcro on the sides.

Seconding Crocs and Happy Little Soles!

We buy seamless bamboo socks for him already so I don't think we can improve upon that.

Thank you all for the links. I've bookmarked those as the next possibilities should the sandals I've ordered be refused.

Yes. Velcro.