Sensory Time Blog

Luke’s Haircut

Hiya, Bernadette here.

I found a way to help my eleven year old nephew Luke who gets really distressed with haircuts.  I didn’t realise how traumatising this was until he spent a weekend with me last year.  His mum asked me if I’d take him for a haircut.  It wasn’t only Luke who was traumatised! It took me a few days to recover - I’m sure it took the hairdresser longer.  My lovely, gentle nephew had transformed into the child from hell - hitting, kicking and shouting at the hairdresser.

My sister had used a variety of strategies (and hairdressers) in the past - head massage, cutting while he was asleep, bribery.

Obviously, a new approach was required.  I wondered if a social story would help and wrote the one embedded below.

Haircut Social Story

I included pictures in the story and made it into a little book.  I posted it to Luke and he was delighted with it - until he read the last paragraph (after 6 weeks his hair will grow and he needs to get it cut again).  He didn’t like this.  However his dad got the calendar out and marked off the date of the next haircut. 

A year later, Luke has had 8 haircuts without significant distress. The ‘event’ is always marked on the calendar and this seems to help him understand and accept that it’s an ongoing process.  Although he protests, he accepts that it is going to happen and he (and the hairdresser) copes. He looks so much smarter too!