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Help with hair washing sensitivity

crazydarkside

Hi,

I have a 12 yr old with pronounced Aspergers, OCD and clinical depression.  He has always been reluctant to wash, esp his hair, and has recently verbalised that he finds it very incomfortable, as it is heavy and he doesn't like the feeling.  He won't get in the bath, and he won't wash it himself.  I put the shower on really soft, and not too warm or cold, and only use shampoo he has chosen, so he likes the smell  We are waiting for an occupational therapy appt to check his sensitivities.  Any suggestions??

Parents

  • I didn't realize until we moved from a house with a bath to a house with a shower only, how much my sons sensory issues afftected him. He screamed the house down when he had a shower. He later managed to verbalize that the water hurt him like darts. He hated strip washing and especially the feel of water drying on his skin.

    The bath we had before was ideal. he could lay back after i washed his hair and I could gently pour the water from a plastic beaker over his head to rinse it. 

    The upshot was that we had to get rid of the shower where we live now and replace it with a corner bath for him. He still has to be prompted to bathe and we have to run it for him so he doesn't flood the house, but at least he does bathe now. However without prompting I doubt he'd ever bathe.

    It's difficult also for your lad because he's at that age where he probably doesn't welcome support with bathing even though he needs it.

    If I were you i'd switch from a shower head to a beaker of water. For my son at least it was a sensation he could tollerate better than the power of the shower and a method he still uses today.

    Good Luck

    Coogy xx

Reply

  • I didn't realize until we moved from a house with a bath to a house with a shower only, how much my sons sensory issues afftected him. He screamed the house down when he had a shower. He later managed to verbalize that the water hurt him like darts. He hated strip washing and especially the feel of water drying on his skin.

    The bath we had before was ideal. he could lay back after i washed his hair and I could gently pour the water from a plastic beaker over his head to rinse it. 

    The upshot was that we had to get rid of the shower where we live now and replace it with a corner bath for him. He still has to be prompted to bathe and we have to run it for him so he doesn't flood the house, but at least he does bathe now. However without prompting I doubt he'd ever bathe.

    It's difficult also for your lad because he's at that age where he probably doesn't welcome support with bathing even though he needs it.

    If I were you i'd switch from a shower head to a beaker of water. For my son at least it was a sensation he could tollerate better than the power of the shower and a method he still uses today.

    Good Luck

    Coogy xx

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