Please don't flame me, this is about what I am guessing to be Autism.

[colditz]

I saw a group of people walking through town yesterday, all male, and some with little tags round their necks. The tagged ones appeared to be the care staff, and the other men seemed to be their clients - I guessed this because I crossed the road at the same time, and they were very solicitous about waiting for the green man.

One of the men, I am presuming a client, wan't wearing a coat, hat scarf, gloves anything except a very thin jersey, and his face looked almost blue. He looked so cold, but wasn't clutching himself as people usually do. It was bitter here yesterday, about 1 degree c, and windy too.

Should the staff have brought him out without a coat if he wouldn't wear one? Is it possible that he just insisted? It just seems a really thoughtless thing to do!

i know children with sensory issues that will only wear pyjamas and not clothes. Some won't wear socks and shoes, so it may just be he wouldn;t wear them. Don't think anyone would be that unthinking.

I would have thought though that it would have been more thoughtful to let him stay at home, it really was unusually cold yesterday. But I'm sure you're right about the lack of coat.

Ds2 generally won't wear a coat, no matter what the weather. He not only doesn't like the feel of them but somehow just doesn't seem to feel the cold. I think I'm doing well if I can convince him to put a long-sleeved top on instead of his T-shirt.

It's nigh on impossible to get him to wear more and he's still only 4yrs. I can only imagine the battle staff would have on their hands to get a full-grown adult into more clothes than they wanted.

Ds2 is also one of those children who gets extremely hyper when he's been inside all day. Even the trampoline has no effect. Taking him out in the cold would be the lesser of the two evils. It may be that the man you saw has similar needs in that respect.

think it may be a sensory thing.
i have AS and i rarely feel the cold. i walk to the shops with just a tshirt and trousers on (did it today) and ds is the same, (he is also AS) we are both wearing tshirts today.

i can see it may look like a case of bad parenting when people see ds but he just doesnt feel cold, i hate wearing a coat, the feel of it makes me squirm and ds is the same.

HTH

I take ds1 hiking - sometimes in quite vicous weather. It has taken me many many months to get him to keep a hat on. Next we'll work on gloves. I bought him some for Christmas and he shivered and jumped away from them when he saw them.

As an adult he'll have some right to make choices as well- even if they're bizarre ones and not in his interest (this is something I find a bit odd about LDs to be honest). I suspect he just outright refused though.

agree with jenk and coppertop. DS (no diagnosis yet but I suspect will be HFA), often throws his coat off in town and I have to coax him back into it - he doesn't seem to feel the cold that much.

ds1 always just wears a t-shirt in school (which is fine as its boiling) but I asked them to put his jumper on for a school photo - and they sent a note back saying they'd tried, but couldn't- he was having none of it He's only 8. If as an adult he decides he's not wearing something they'll struggle.

now just to make it more confusing dd......(ASD)
goes to bed with her coat,hat,scarf,gloves and peidro boots on.

i have to wait until she,s asleep before removing them.

when she comes in from nursery it usually takes me a good hour to remove her coat etc off her.
she likes to feel clothing tight and snug around her whereas me and ds are the complete opposite.

I work with a couple of children with Autism who don't wear any clothes at all when home.

that would have been ds when he was a toddler moondog, i used to have to force him to wear a pair of underpants when he was little and even now most nights he,ll come downstairs wearing just a pair of boxer shorts.