ds hates fuss of his feet. anyone else out there?

[charlie95]

my ds, nearly 4 yrs, hates anyhting being done to his feet, eg toenails cutting, feet being touched with or without socks on. can tolerate having socks and shoes put on and generally feels better when those are on. also hates seeing anyone elses bare feet or shoes coming off. we put it down to the fact that when ill in hospital, from 8 wks to approx 14 wks old, his feet were always used to have canulas etc put into the veins in his feet cos they couldnt find good veins anywhere else. just wondered if anyone else out there experienced anything similar at all. i just tried to cut his toenails and managed to do both big toes in 10 mins of screaming, crying and wriggling!

thanks for that - useful to know about other peoples similar experiences..

ds cant tell us what he feels about it and why because of speech delay - generally progressing all the time but not to that extent. tends to copy a lot from us and school, lots of repetition but does come out with short sentences and phrases of his own accord.

long story but all round developmental delay due to rare brain tumour at birth and hole in heart. ops required for both when tiny. 25 wks into 2nd pgcy now. all so far so good.

charlie95, my ds1 didn't go through anything like yours did when a baby but has only just recently, at age 6, let us cut his toenails without one of us literally having to hold him down.

Is he hypersensitive in other ways? My autistic son is very sensitive on his feet in odd ways- won't walk on grass at all (even with shoes on!) - but will run around outside on concrete barefoot (think the grass is too tickly). has problems with carpet etc as well. Rubbing his feet with different materials has helped desensitise him a bit. I cut his nails (hands and feet) when he's asleep.

thanks for that all.

yes he is hypersensitive in other ways - mainly tactile defensive. continuing therapies to help combat these. sound hypersensitive too although his school teacher doesnt believe that but he is getting better of that gradually.

i've heard that of a few autistic children who dont like grass etc. our occupational; therapist uses things with ds to help de-sensitise him such as rubber spike mitts/balls etc and says when being done, use them on ds as firm strokes. rather than softly which will be to tickly. it needs to be firmer on them to help. the tickly sensations is what theyre trying to get away from .