Getting Haircuts For Your Child With Autism

Hair salons are busy places that are filled with noises whether it comes from idle chatter between stylists and customers or stylists blowing a customer’s hair dry with a hairdryer. The smell of shampoo may not affect most of us, yet it could be very significant to a child with autism.

What about the decor? Televisions, posters, mannequin heads, lights, plants, hair, and nail swatches, and the list goes on…

Finally, the hairdresser’s station is filled with tools of the trade. Combs, hot irons, hairdryer, scissors, electric razors that vibrate and buzz. What looks like a typical salon to most of us may look scary and dangerous to a child with autism who has sensory issues.

Haircuts And Autism

These two words can bring tears to a parent’s eyes at the thought of having to endure the stress, the embarrassment, and the trauma that seems to be a faithful companion to autism.

Children with autism often have high levels of anxiety when it comes to events like haircuts. This anxiety is often associated with sensory issues and fear of the unknown.

It is difficult for a typically developing individual to imagine what it must look like, sound like, or feel like to be subjected to an environment like this. Many children actually look forward to visiting the hairdresser so they can watch a movie and get a reward at the end of the visit. For children with autism, it may take a little bit of strategizing to get them to this point.

Thoughts And Ideas To Consider:

Your number one goal when it comes to getting your child a haircut is to find a hairdresser that loves kids and has patience with kids. We have all heard (or experienced) the horror stories of haircutters who gave up and sent a screaming child home with half of a haircut because the tantrums from the child were out of control and it was becoming dangerous to use scissors on a flailing screaming child.

A child-friendly haircutter will know how and when to approach a child. They will know how to work with parents to accomplish the task and they won’t become impatient or cruel with a child.

Even more important than the hair cutter is to prepare your child for the experience of a haircut. What are some things that you can do to ease your child with autism into the idea that getting a haircut is a good thing and a fun thing?

Use Social Stories

Children with autism appreciate and need explanations and they need to see, hear, smell, or touch something to know how to respond. There is no better example than a haircut. If your child with autism has never seen anyone get a haircut, read a book about it, or watched a video of a positive experience with a child getting a haircut then it is perfectly reasonable to react strongly to the idea of someone coming at them with shiny, sharp scissors! Take your child along when YOU get a haircut, or when one of his/her siblings gets a haircut. Let him/her see that there is nothing to fear, that it doesn’t hurt to have your hair cut, and that the end result is nice-looking hair!

Give Your Child Something To Calm Himself/Herself During The Haircut

It could be a tablet with a favorite video or movie, a fidget of some sort, a favorite doll, or it could be sitting in your lap while he/she gets the haircut. Whatever it is for your child, make sure you provide. Your child won’t always need it. But, while he/she is young and just learning about these things, there is nothing wrong with helping your child by using sensory tools to help them feel calm during a stressful situation.

Take Your Child On A Pre-Visit

If possible, take your child to the salon in advance to meet the hairdresser and see the environment where he/she will go to get their haircut. This can help them prepare for the trip, and learn what to expect at the salon.

Role Play At Home

Get a cheap doll at the dollar store and play “hair salon”. Give the doll a haircut and dress the doll up and talk about how nice and calm the doll was during the haircut and how nice the doll looks after the haircut. Make it enticing and interesting and talk about how your child will get to do the same thing soon.

Explain The Steps Of A Haircut

You can use a visual schedule, watch a video, read a book, or talk through what to expect at the salon.

Remove The Fear Of The Unknown

The more preparation you can provide for your child, the better. In addition to preparing well, there are a few more things that you can do.

Schedule It For An Optimal time

Try to schedule your child’s appointment at the least busy time of the day. You can also try to schedule your child’s appointment during a time of day when your child is at their most relaxed state. Avoid scheduling your child’s appointment at times when your child is overtired or overwhelmed.

Keep The Haircut Simple

This will ensure that the whole process can be kept short and sweet. For little boys, maybe a quick buzz or a simple short haircut if they are opposed to the buzzing shaver. (Tip: massage their back with the buzzer to see how they react to it. For some kids, it can feel good and soothing and for others, you might need to put it in the drawer and map out a new plan).

Test Some Salon Items At Home

If available, try using some salon items at home and show your child with autism how they work. Try the hair clippers, combs, scissors, and hairdryer. Show them how they work on you first and then ask him/her if he/she wants to try it out on himself/herself. Show him/her that there is nothing to fear.

Reward Your Child For A Job Well Done

Once you’re at the salon, use rewards for your child when he/she responds appropriately. Support your child and continue to teach your child as much as you can about what is expected when he/she has difficulty with events such as these.

Be Patient

Struggles with haircuts can seem as though they will remain a problem forever. They do not. As children with autism learn and grow, they eventually learn that there are certain events that happen in their routine, and the better prepared they are, the less likely they are to experience anxiety at the thought of getting a haircut in the future.

Be patient and do your best to react calmly in the event that your child has a tantrum or adverse response to a haircut. Be persistent with preparing them for haircuts with frequent visits to the salon and lots and lots of conversations about haircuts and what a wonderful thing that they are!

Circle Care Services is an ABA agency in New Jersey that specializes in helping children with autism. We can help to guide you through difficulties like these. We offer parent training and have trained behavior technicians that can provide behavior modification for your child with ABA therapy. We can help you to navigate the little things that feel like insurmountable big things by coming alongside you and your family and providing guidance and teaching new behavioral and social skills to your child.

Call us for a consultation!