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Original poster

Haircut ASD Advice, Tips, Anything Please?

18 replies

pinktoothbrush · 23/03/2011 18:11

Hi, Cutting DS1's hair is always an ordeal. I cut his hair at home. Hairdressers are out - have tried and came out with about quarter of his hair cut then had to chase him round to finish it off!

He's 6 and petrified of the cutting, and the noise of scissors. We usually do it in front of the TV with distracting DVD and chocolate-related rewards/bribes.

Does anyone have any ideas to make the experience less painful? We're both usually in tears by the end.
Thanks.

OP posts:
Chundle · 23/03/2011 18:15

Will he tolerate anything in his ears? Thinking maybe plug him into an mp3 player with kids songs on so he can't hear the scissors. My dd2 is 19 months with awful sensory issues she hates small enclosed spaces so I took her to largest hairdressers I could find (which happened to be extortionate!) put my iPod on her with cbeebies songs on and fed her half pack of digestives and did te trick :)

Original poster
pinktoothbrush · 23/03/2011 18:34

Ooh. I like that idea. Even if I accidentally cut the wire off DH's headphones! Will give it a try. Am in the psyching up stage, pre-haircut. Many thanks Chundle.

OP posts:
walesblackbird · 23/03/2011 18:55

I've chopped my fingers many times trying to cut my son's hair. He just could about manage me using a scissors but the sound of the clippers used to send him into a frenzy. tbh we just hacked and got through it as quickly as we could. Snot and tears everywhere.

And then we found a barber - a male barber with children of his own - who was ever so patient with him, who talked him through it, gave him the clippers to try on the barber's hand and slowly, bit by bit my son got to trust him and eventually he had his first ever proper hair cut a year ago. When he was 6. He still gets a bit wriggly in the chair but they know him now and they help him through it.

kerpob · 23/03/2011 19:28

We use a mobile hairdresser who comes to our house who knows my two boys since they were very small. Even though its in their home environment (which definitely helps) its still an ordeal at times - we also use their favourite tv programme and feed them lots of treats just to get it over and done with.

Chundle · 23/03/2011 19:38

also alternative to clippers you could go to a traditional barber and ask them to wet shave back of his head so they dont have to use clippers, but that all depends how still he will sit and the risk of getting cut with a sharp razor in barbers hands!

Original poster
pinktoothbrush · 23/03/2011 22:01

Many thanks for the ideas. I'm going to give the headphones a go which handily lets me put it off even longer as I try to work out how to put some music that DS1 might like on DH's ipod!

OP posts:
cwtch4967 · 24/03/2011 09:42

Sorry no advice - I have the opposite problem! DS asd 3 LOVES having his haircut - my mum is a retired hairdresser but still cuts friends and family hair at home, if ds sees the cape he puts it over him and has to have his haircut!!! If he sees someone having a haircut he climbs on their lap or pulls up a chair alongside and has to have some of his cut too!!!! My mum has never seem a child want to have their hair cut like this!!!
He hates having it washed though, and as for having his nails cut ..........!!!!

amberlight · 24/03/2011 10:43

Scissors need to be body temperature, as do clippers. Clippers - the sound hurts like hell and so do the vibrations so I'd avoid them where possible if a child is sensitive to it. Scissor noise sounds like nails being dragged down a blackboard just by our ears. Water is too hot or too cold. Shampoo smells like I've been dumped in a vat of bleach and perfume mix. I'm surprised all people don't run and scream when they see a hairdresser Grin

What works sometimes is the old duvet and toe wriggling trick. Wrap child in duvet, make them wriggle their toes like mad in the bits they don't like.

Explain exactly what the hairdresser will do and when and how, and let them have some control over which bit of hair to do. If they can sense it and the hairdresser takes it really slowly, it's sometimes less scary than someone clipping things randomly and fast all over their head.

Hope some of that might help...

amberlight · 24/03/2011 10:44

ooo and hair clippings feel like being stabbed with needles, so make sure it all falls away from skin if poss...

IndigoBell · 24/03/2011 11:12

Thanks Amber! As usual all very helpful.

Something the OT said to us was massaging his head first so that he 'knows where his head is'. Ie if a child has Proprioception problems they don't really know where there body is, so they'll be worried you'll cut off their ears cause they don't know where their ears are...

This certainly works with cutting nails. Make sure you touch their fingers / toes first so that they learn where they are....

MrsMagnolia · 24/03/2011 12:15

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

waitingforgodot · 24/03/2011 12:43

I cut DS's hair in the bath. I don't call it "cutting" though. I call it "trimming" as I think even the word "cut" sounds sore!
Have not been brave enough to tackle a barbers yet but watching this thread with interest!

wraith · 24/03/2011 19:42

heh 30+ here and it still feel like going to my own execution to have it cut

when i was younger it used to be bribes or challenges to try to distract me

no real advice sorry to say but good luck

Original poster
pinktoothbrush · 27/03/2011 12:36

Thanks all so very much. I'm definitely going to try some of these - duvet and massage ideas have definite potential. I'm still psyching myself up for it, but will let you know how it turns out.

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wendihouse22 · 28/03/2011 12:13

I used to wrap my son in a huge bath towel and just hold him on my knee. Sometimes, we'd have to do a haircut over 2 or 3 visits.

It was a nightmare.

Chelseahandfull · 28/03/2011 12:48

I have found that letting him hold something over this face helps, as it appears to be trimmings on face (in mouth, up nose, in eyes - when will he learn that these can all be shut !) are the biggest problem, but perhaps you are still a bit further upstream than that.

Original poster
pinktoothbrush · 15/04/2011 19:56

Hi, Just wanted to let you know that the haircut went much better than usual (with only an odd tear as opposed to hysterics). This was what we did:

  1. DS1 filled in a questionnaire with ideas on as to what he would prefer - e.g. preferred being on the computer to listening to music - so he was more in charge.
  2. He looked in a mirror to check I wasn't cutting his ears off.
  3. He was happily strapped into a highchair and heavy blanket all around him and wiggled his toes when he was finding it difficult.
  4. He was in charge of the hairdryer to blow the bits away and was his way of taking a breather from the snipping action.
  5. I did lots of firm holding on his head and shoulders so he would be aware of where his body was (not in a man-handling kind of way!).
  6. I promised that my fingers would always be in between the scissors and his head, which did mean that I couldn't catch the bits of hair, but he seemed less worried by the bits than that I would do him actual harm!
  7. I used some new hairdressing scissors which make less of a horrible sound than the ancient nail scissors I've used in the past.
  8. Multiple chocolate bribery was had at the end!
Thanks so much for your advice and hope this might be helpful to others! PS Haircut is actually v good!
OP posts:
EllenJane1 · 15/04/2011 21:05

Well done pinktoothbrush! And littleblue.

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