subject: Bathing, Hair washing, and Handwashing for Kids with Sensory Issues or Autism [print this page] Bathing, Hair washing, and Handwashing for Kids with Sensory Issues or Autism
Because they have difficulties with habituation, sensory kids take a longer time than others do getting used to a new sensation:It continues to feel novel or distracting. That's why getting into a bathtubfilled with warmwater,or a cold lake or pool, can be very challenging to a child with SPD. Shemay be better off gettingit over with in one fell swoop, or she may need plenty of time to adjust. Try having her wet her feet, then her legs, before moving on to splashing herself on the shoulders and chest and wetting her head before immersing herself completely. Before she jumps into a pool,have her to take a shower and adjust the water to match the temperature of the pool.
A child who has just experienced a dramatic change in external temperaturea heat wave orcold snap, for instancemay find she is ultra sensitive to temperature, andmay ask to have her bath or shower water constantly adjusted. Try to be patient; her system really does have more difficulty dealing with temperature fluctuations and finding the temperature that's just right for her at that moment. Be encouraging and let her add cold or hot water to the bathtub, carefully monitoring the hot water coming through the pipes so that she is never scalded. You may want to keep a big plastic cup, quart sized or larger, near the tub so it can be filled up at the faucet with cold, lukewarm, or hot water and gradually added to the bath water. (In fact, she may feel better having her hair or body rinsed using a big cup that provides a good amount of pressure against her skin instead of the ticklish sensation of a shower head.)
Kids may resist hand washing because they don't want to experience too-cold water on their hands. Handwashing is most effective with warm water anyway. To encourage good hygiene, make sure that the faucets they are using allow them to turn on the warm water right away. In a pinch,provide waterless hand soap (preferably without triclosan, a very powerful chemical, as an ingredient) or better yet, diaper wipes or moist towelettes.
Give the sensory child time to adjust to temperature changes and you will have a happier, less anxious child!
copyright (c) 2010 Nancy Peske
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