Our children who have sensory concerns struggle sometimes with wearing certain clothes.
- Some of them struggle with wearing any clothes.
- Some of them will only wear one dress – or one kind of pants – or one kind of shirt.
- Some have a great deal of difficulty with wearing socks and shoes.
- This can be very challenging for parents.
We have solutions for you!
Scratchy glove
Get a bath glove. We like to call them scratchy gloves. Put the glove on your hand and then very lightly rub the glove over all four limbs, the torso, and any areas that are bothered by tags or certain fabrics. Twice a day for 3 minutes.
Hint: Set the timer for the allotted time and then focus on the activity. When the timer goes off — you are done. If your child is highly sensitive, you may have to build the time. If so, you can start with 30 seconds and build.
Fabric rub
Find other fabrics such as:
- lamb’s wool,
- burlap,
- fleece,
- denim,
- satin.
Very similar to what you are doing with the scratchy glove:
- rotate through whatever fabrics you have lined up,
- very lightly rub the fabric over the skin.
Depending on the severity of your child’s struggle, do this in addition to the scratchy glove time for two or three minutes several times a day. Each time you do the activity limit it to no more than three minutes.
Mindset
Sometimes a child’s struggle gets rooted into the way they think. We may have to help them out of the rut they are in with their belief system. You can do this by creating digital recordings, social stories, or by role playing with your child. The idea is to INPUT the correct information – the truth about the matter. These are always positive. You are giving your child information that they probably do not have.
Digital Recordings: Prepare digital recordings for them to listen to throughout the day and while they are sleeping. We suggest digital recordings as a wonderful tool for helping children to embrace new information in their worlds. we have seen homemade recordings make a huge difference for children. What would these recordings look like?
- make the script in first person – as if the child is saying these words,
- make the recordings that are to be listened to during the day no more than 3 minutes long,
- make recordings for the child to listen to while he or she is sleeping as well.
The scripts could go something like this:
“I love to wear all kinds of different clothes. My favorite right now is (fill in blank) but I also like to wear jeans and button shirts and (whatever it is you want them to wear). Mommy wears lots of different kinds of clothes. She wears different kinds of dresses (pants, shirts, etc.) Some clothes are what she needs to wear to work. Some are what she wears to work in the garden. Some are what she wears to clean our house. Some she wears to bed. Daddy wears lots of different clothes, too. He has to wear ( ) to work. He likes to wear ( ) when he cuts the grass. I have to wear certain kinds of clothes to school and then I can wear my favorites when I (am home or play with my friends or go to Grandma’s house – or whatever is appropriate for your family.)”
Always keep the scripts very positive. Whatever you want the child to be thinking — the truth you want him or her to understand — is what you will put in the script. This is not brainwashing. This is teaching. This is inputting truth. Create the script to advance to the stage where you want your child to be.
You can also create social stories. Some resources for helping you to create social stories are:
Resources for social stories:
https://www.sandbox-learning.com/
Timer/Clothes Game
- Lay out several different kinds of clothing that you want your child to get used to wearing.
- Have your child pick one of them.
- Encourage him to wear that piece of clothing or at least drape it over his skin (arm or leg, etc.).
- Set a timer for a designated period of time. When the timer goes off – let your child remove that one and select another item to put on.
- Go through as many different items as you have time for.
Hint:
- Some children will be able to wear the clothing for minutes at a time.
- Some will only be able to tolerate them for a few seconds at a time.
- Some will not even be ready yet to put them on properly but may let you drape them over.
You know your child. Start with small amounts of time and build (even seconds is okay). The key is you want your child to feel the victory of wearing the clothing for the allotted time.
You may want to engage in this activity WITH your child with your own different types of clothing.
You may need to model this game FIRST with your own clothing before your child may be ready to venture.
The key with all of these activities is to help your child get out of the rut in a positive and encouraging way. We have no idea really what they are feeling and we want to be compassionate. It may seem like no big deal to us for a kid to just put on the clothing we want them to wear. We may be inclined to be heavy handed with it. Please stop a minute and consider that your child is struggling here. Your child’s struggles are just as real and big to them as yours are to you.
Tom and Julie Meekins
