He won't take the sweatshirt off!

[Jessica]

I started working with a new child last week, who is on the Autism spectrum and seemingly has some mild sensory issues. I work in NYC, and for the last 4 days it has been almost 100 degrees. The child insists on wearing a sweatshirt, always, even in this heat. I just started working with him, so I have a billion theories as to why this is, but not one obvious one stands out yet. Anyone have experience with this? Could it be hypersensitivity, and this is the only contact that feels good on his skin? But why would no contact (short sleeves) be worse?

[Patty K.]

I have an answer for you. He may have trouble with transitions. My son has issues with changing clothing to fit the weather. The clothing was too small, worn out and hot. I had to explain that he had to change his clothing, we packed it up and the following day there was only clothing that was new (mind you it was all soft cotton with no tags & the right colors). It took about a week and lots of reassurance but he made the transition ok.

[Awe-tistic_Son]

My son refuses to wear the sleeveless shirts and he used to wear them all the time. But, when he started pre-school I had to dress him in a normal shirt with sleeves. Well, He loves Diego and so we bought him 2 nice sleeveless Diego shirts and he refuses to wear them or any other sleeveless shirts. He demands the shirts with sleeves. I think it's all about routine! If he (the child you are talking of) was wearing the sweat shirts when it was cold for a long time and now it's hot...he probably just doesn't want to change because it's unfamiliar to him and not in his routine. I know with my son that it's hard to change rountines like this because he'll put up a fight, but if it's something for his best interests...you have to make a new routine. My son has this weighted vest that he hates, but his therapist says he needs to get used to it. So, I'm trying to get him used to it. We do notice when he does wear it that he's much calmer and stable.

[Patty K.]

We never got far with the weighed vest. More power to you. My son was too tactile defensive and the fight was not worth the effort. I compromised with a weighted lap pad for a while (he no longer needs it) and a heavy blanket at night (still needs it). But I totally agree on the idea of the need for self imposed routeens. Especially with clothing. I even have trouble with the order the clothing goes on. I constanly find that even the smallest change in the routeen is a battle ready to happen. I don't even know he has one until I break it. Then I know. I have found that I make the changes to clothing for the weather, he adjusts and makes is new routeen to fit the situation.

[Jessica]

Just to update, and thank those of you who responded...J. no longer insists on wearing his sweatshirts. Through a combination of gentle encouragement, warnings about transitions, brushing and other sensory activities to build his tolerance to unexpected tactile input, he is now wearing t shirts (and even a bathing suit when we go to the sprinklers). He asks for it sometimes, but it is usually at appropriate times (too cold in the AC classroom, when we are going to the playground..thinking it may be cold). So far so good.

[Patty K.]

hey, how did you get the bathing suit on??? My son won't wear clothing when its wet and would rather go naked but that is not always a good idea (sun exposure and public beaches).