Autistic self care

Should be. One of the things yu really need to look at, using two mirrors, is where you natural hairline is back and front. If you find your occipital bone, the bump at the back of your head, where it joins the neck, how much hair is there? If you just have a few whispy bits below your occipital or the all grow in strange directions, then it might look a bit strange at the back, although as you won't be looking at it so it might not matter so much? Always use the clippers to cut in the direction of the hair growth, so if theres a bit at the back that grows sideways, then use the clippers sideways. Have a good look at the front and sides of your hairline, if you have a slightly receding hairline making quite a deep V, then it might be worth sectionng that off and cutting it withe scissors.

I'd advise using the largest guide comb you have, its much easier to take more off than to put it back on!

If your hairline is very close to you ears you might want to use a smaller guide comb, and blend it in a bit, so as you don't have hair sticking out over your ears.

 If you need or want to, for very fine, flyaway hair, you can rub some hair gel through it and dry it off, the clippers will cut through it ok, but it might give you a little more control.

Marianne72 said:

Apparently neither does Bear Grylls

Interesting, I hadn't heard that so I looked it up.

I found out that although he no longer eats vegetables or grains, he does eat fruit, as well as meat, eggs, & dairy.

Excellent progress. Well done!

I didn't practice any self care for many years. I drank, smoked, ate too much, didn't exercise and I didn't think I deserved any care because I thought I was lazy and weak. That has improved a lot - I stopped smoking years ago, have massively cut down on alcohol (now cut out completely due to my ADHD meds), exercise regularly and am eating a bit better, although this is still a struggle. The meds are helping with that a bit too now. I think the main thing I have gained from my discovery and diagnoses of Autism and then ADHD is that my attitude to myself is better. I now know that the difficulties I have experienced are not down to personal failings but just the type of brain I was born with. I can play to my strengths and accept my weaknesses.

This is more or.less how I would like my hair to.be - is this achievable with a number 8 clipper guard?

This is my barber shop.

Thats annoying and they're right you can't use clippers on wet hair. They sound quite lazy and uninspired to be honest, maybe you've got a similar situation to many round here, they were all trained by the same person and all the negative bits have been passed on. I hate it when you go to a salon and all the stylists have one of two cuts, theres the one they do on long hair and the one they do on short hair, it never matters what you ask for you will get one of them.

I know it sounds weird and embarrassing but next time you see someone with hair you like, ask them where they had it done. People always seem pleased to be asked, even by a total stranger, it feels very validating.

The womens salons in my area won't do dry cuts, and you can't use clippers on wet hair, so they use scissors and they don't cut it short enough. By the time they've finished I usually can't bear to ask them to cut any more off, as I've had enough by then and just want to go home.

Roy said:

I don’t eat fruit or vegetables.

Apparently neither does Bear Grylls - so you are in good company.

You can have a dry cut at a womens salon, or a wet cut where they just spray your hair with water.

Lucky you, I would prefer going to a barber and just having my hair cut dry, rather than going to a women's salon where they want to wash and blow dry it. I don't like having my hair washed in a salon and it's a waste of time because I wash it after I get home. 

Like TheCatWoman I usually have a short pixie cut, but I've just bought some clippers with various attachments and I want my partner to cut it using the number 8 attachment, which will take it to a length of 1 inch/25mm. If that doesn't work out, I might ask in a local barbers if they cut women's hair in short styles.

I cannot stand having long hair, I like to be able.to wash it quickly and just give it a quick blast with a hairdryer - particularly now that I often get shoulder and neck pain.

Thank you all for your replies.

Roy said:

A dentist thought it was correct to hold children down.

I was bribed with sweets!

No health and safety rules in those days.

If I was good I was given Smarties by the doctor.

This was in the Eye and Ear Hospital.

So sorry you were held down Roy.

The olden days are definitely not golden.

I wish I had looked after my teeth better, I didn’t know I was going to live this long. A dentist thought it was correct to hold children down.

I only have my hair cut when it becomes unmanageable, I’ve used the same family run barbers since I was a child, they know I don’t do small talk. Still struggling with using a shower, it’s possible but takes about a 2 hour buildup and procrastination, I have the shower on its lowest setting and it still feels like it would take the skin off a tomato.

I now set myself reminders to drink and have started taking vitamin supplements as I don’t eat fruit or vegetables.

It gives a whole new meaning to “taking in laundry.”

Robert124 said:

I go there regularly because it's dirt cheap and I feel as if I'm in the 1930s.

That's a period I'd like to have lived in but only if I was wealthy, didn't have to go to war, and resided at Charleston Farmhouse in Sussex.

Luckily my hairdresser is someone I have known for years and I trust her. The salon is bright but it’s not noisy. 

With all this talk about self care, I had my hair cut today at a very traditional barber, only £5, it's in a basement in a traditional city market.  I go there regularly because it's dirt cheap and I feel as if I'm in the 1930s.

TheCatWoman said:

I had a jacuzzi once, never again, I accidently sat on a jet and ended up clean inside and out!

Oh my! 

Thank you for the info, 10 weeks sound not too scary, and as I want to take my daughter too, so she can get used to going it might be something I can aim for! 

I once got roped into a manicure, going with some other mums from an NCT group. It was really horrendous, they push your cuticles back and that's painful, and I'm not a fan of nail polish either. I think there was a foot massage too and I felt so uncomfortable I was just glad when it was all over!