• Replies 3 replies
  • Subscribers 68 subscribers
  • Views 939 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

School dress down troubles

Beka

Anyone else’s ASD-diagnosed child had a nightmare of a day today with the dress down/non-uniform fundraiser at schools in aid of Children in Need?

My five year old daughter has autism and learning difficulties, and is already struggling to cope in mainstream school, but today the whole school was out of uniform and encouraged to wear bright colours and clothes with spots. Don’t get me wrong, I’m fully in support of CIN and school fundraisers, and I know most kids love dress-down days. I’m just having a vent because my poor little girl couldn’t cope with the sudden change in uniform policy, had a meltdown, bit a teacher, ate a bunch of non-edible items, and had to be removed from the classroom for safety reasons.

The school are having another dress down fundraiser next week, and another two of them the week after that. I can’t keep her home, that would upset her routine more. What am I supposed to do?

  • I’m not sure if it’s that she wasn’t in uniform herself, or if it was seeing everyone else in all the colours, although my gut says it’s probably a bit of both. She’s fine with wearing clothes like that at home, but I think wearing ‘home’ clothes at school threw her. I definitely think I’ll keep her in school uniform for the other non-uniform days this term, but I don’t think there’s anything I can do to help her deal with the sight of her classmates in different clothes. Hopefully she’ll get used to it since it’s going to happen three more times in the next two weeks. She does get used to things if it happens enough.

    To be honest although today was a bad one, the school are struggling with her in general, today wasn’t an isolated incident. Everyone agrees she should be in an SEN school but there weren’t any places available. (But that’s a whole other story!)

  • Poor girl. Would it help to spend the week desensitising in some way to the special clothes/colours/patterns, like maybe if she wears them herself all week sometimes/somehow? So it's like she owns it and everyone else is joining in come next dress down day? 

  • Did your girl struggle with not wearing her usual uniform herself, other pupils not wearing uniform or both?