I am careful to cut my girl’s hair on a day when she is happy and before a bath or shower, so I can immediately remove the clothes that might have itchy or tickley hairs on them. We have also worked with our hair care social story many times over the years to address anxiety with this process.
Hairdressers Face Shield help
My girl gets nervous that I will hurt her when i cut her hair. Who can blame her? Those scissors do get close to the eyes. I got a hairdressers face shield from Amazon for under $10 that helped her be a lot more comfortable.
Easy Bangs
I have been seeing this trick on Facebook and it works great. Gather the front hair that you want to frame the face and twist it in front of the face, then cut the twisted hair – the lower down, the longer the bangs – for a natural, face framing look.
Use a Soft Scrunchie
My girl does not like hair ties or barrettes, but I find she can tolerate a soft scrunchie for a few minutes during haircutting. It holds the hair together, so I can cut the whole thing at once. I often only get a couple of cuts before she get upset with the process, so getting it all in one go helps a lot.
Cut Above Your Fingers
We have all watched hairdressers cut below their fingers to get a straight line, but when that hair falls, it can be tickley and upsetting to an autistic child. When I cut the hair above my fingers, it all stays with me and doesn’t get on her clothes or on the floor – she also doesn’t see ho much hair I took off, when I pop it right in the trash. All of these things help to make the experience easier for all of us.
Pretty Straight
You can see how great this line came out. I usually have to do a little touch up down the line – I try to do it in the shower, while it is wet, again so the cut hairs do not bother her. Again, I will only get 1 maybe 2 chances to cut it at a time, but it is OK for me if the hair cut gets done over the course of a week.
… and she is done and happy!
It took us many years to make this work for her. I hope the tips and tricks we have come up with her will help you and your little darlings more easily manage hair care.
