• Replies 4 replies
  • Subscribers 6 subscribers
  • Views 874 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
Related
Hints and tips
  • To quote someone's message, first select/highlight the relevant text, and then use the Quote button that appears
  • To "mention" someone, type @ followed by the start of the forum name, and choose from the list; that person will get a notification of being mentioned

Clothes Sensitivity

NAS79143

Hello - my 14yo son is on the spectrum and I have a question. He is very self reliant i.e. makes his pack lunch, does his homework without prompting and likes to be in control which is great. 

He has always had clothes sensitivities but has got better with age. 

 He went to specialist schools but recently moved to a mainstream school and we all thought he with struggle with the transition but he has done amazingly well.

My question is that he has to sleep in his school shirt and tie and he cant bare to put it on in the morning. 

Is this something i should be getting him out of the habit of or say oh well he done amazing in so many areas that this is a small thing. 

My worries are safety (sleeping with a tie on), smell (he doesn't yet) , tidiness (he looks like he has slept in his clothes) 

When I ask him he says no and i can see the look of stress in his eyes

  • in reply to Martin

    I have been trying to come up with a physical disability equivalent, and the following is the best I could do. If a pupil had recently had a tracheotomy for any reason, no school would require them to wear a buttoned up collar or a tie. Just because your son's difficulties with a collar and tie are not physical, but are sensory, does not mean that they are any less valid. Autism is classed as a disability and accommodations for its effects should be as automatic as they are for any physical disability. I think that you should make the school aware of the problems your son is having with the uniform, and your very reasonable safety concerns about his wearing a tie overnight. I would also add some information about how real sensory issues are for autistic people and that your son cannot just stop his behaviour and that it is not a whim. They will then know the full facts and the burden of coming up with a reasonable compromise is then theirs.

  • I can sympathise with your son; I  have never been able to touch velvet, it goes right through me and I automatically  'feeze' if I accidently brush against any.  Happily, it's fairly easily avoided.

    It started when I was a small boy. I threw tantrums when they wanted me to wear little velvet paigeboy trousers at someone's wedding. Needless to say, I didn't wear them. Cushions could also be a problem. 

    Regarding your son, I'm afraid I can't add anything to Martin's suggestions.

    Ben

  • I have clothing texture problems and they are very real - in my case touching nylon and other man-made textiles is revolting - makes me want to curl up and die. I therefore would not recommend trying to enforce anything on your son that might have serious sensory effects. This sounds to me like a 'reasonable accommodation' issue for the school. If your son has no trouble putting on other types of shirt in the morning then the fault is with the 'school shirt and tie'. If the school are aware of their duty of care for 'disabled' pupils they should be open to negotiation. Perhaps a 'polo shirt' and clip on tie might be an improvement, or no tie? If the uniform is causing problems then it is the uniform that needs to be altered, not your son.

  • i dunno, i like to try find reason behind things first as a explanation.

    in my own case... i actually sleep in my work clothes a bit lol
    its... i dunno, its mainly winter though, for warmth.... you wear your work clothes all day and they store your body warmth, why take them off to go to sleep then when you wake up to put them on they are cold? if you sleep in them they retain the warmth, add more warmth and you wake up next day warm with the clothes warm. so for me its a warmth issue, and its mainly a winter thing.

    not sure if you can cross check that with your kid and see if he only does this in the winter? 

    if i remember correctly.... school shirts were very cold, the material on them got cold too easy and stored cold.