How to help an autistic child with clothing issues?

Question

My little girl has high functioning autism. She has severe issues with clothing..and it is only getting worse. What can I do to help her so that she isn't afraid of textures..button..laces..ect. She says "it doesn't feel right" and I have to give it away because it was already paid for. Even the clothes that felt right at first..don't anymore. Help?

Answer 1

I would just say to leave her alone.

Imp autistic too and I understand what its like for her. Imp not a child anymore (Imp 24 now). Imp still very particular about the clothes I wear. Right now I wear the same jumper everyday. I don’t like how it looks (in fact I hate how it looks) but its familiar and imp used to it. I will wear something else if I have to go outside where people will see me because the jumper has holes in it and I understand that people treat you with disdain when you dress like that but as soon as I get home I put it back on.

I buy clothes that I think are nice but I often don’t wear them. I probably will someday, but for me it takes a long time to get form buying something to knowing it enough to wear it. People don’t really understand that I can’t just wear something I have to be comfortable with it first and that takes a long time. There more you're pushed to accept something the longer it takes and you get stressed and everything starts falling apart and it get harder and harder.

Only get her the things she needs. Get her clothes that are like the ones she doesn’t mind wearing. Let her cut buttons of if she doesn’t like them.

Don’t try and make her wear clothes that don’t feel right. It’s hard to explain what its like when something doesn’t feel right the closest way I could explain would be its like when you hold your breath so long that it starts to hurt, that’s what it feels like.

Let her keep some of the clothes, looking at them a lot might help her. I usually start wearing something after I’ve looked at it a lot. I keep the clots I thin I might wear folded on my floor were I can see them.

You should just let her find her own way.

Most certainly don’t just force her, it hurts and it’s cruel.

Answer 2

I always imagine that an autistic person with fabric issues must feel like I do when I  wear unlined wool.

Can you imagine being forced to wear itchy, unlined wool all the time?

I think you have gotten some good advice here,

Answer 3

Maybe you could designate what clothes feel soft, smooth etc. and keep them in drawers/closet according to the feel and ask her what type of feel are you in the mood for today and have it in drawers or sections of the closet and have pants and shirts in the category she has stated they are. It may help for her to visually see them in categories as well. You could even put a paper divider with the names of the feel for each section. Or even say we wear this feel on Mondays and have one stated for which days of the week.

My youngest is not autistic but thrives on routine and organization and has a thing about the way things feel, I have always thought she had autistic tendencies. Calendars and visual ways to organize/sort really help us out on time and me not loosing my temper about these little type of issues. Also maybe a digital timer and tell her you have to pick one feel before the timer goes off. My daughter responds very well to the digital timer, she loves to try and beat it. And she gets to set it and stop it on her own. My daughter is 7 by the way. Best of luck to you both.

My oldest daughter hates anything that is binding or itchy. I buy her a lot of Hanes cute capris and shorts at Wal-Mart for $7 to $8 and they are tagless and pretty soft and very cute. I would choose to stick with fabrics she likes even if you are tired of them. They make cute shirts that coordinate with most of the shorts etc. that are all cotton and tagless as well. I do not know your daughters age (my oldest is 9) but even if she is older the sporty type look you could get the same type of clothes in junior sizes as well.

Answer 4

let them decide

Answer 5

I HAVE FOUR YEARS OF EXPERIENCE WORKING WITH AUTISTIC CHILDREN...I UNDERSTAND THAT TEXTURES CAN BE AN ISSUE...SOME OF THE KIDS I WORKED WITH WENT THROUGH THE SAME THING AND IT REACHED A POINT WHERE NOTHING FELT RIGHT...WE HAD TO BASICALLY MAKE THEM WEAR SOMETHING...EVEN IF THEY STILL COMPLAINED.  I KNOW THAT'S PROBABLY NOT THE ANSWER YOU ARE LOOKING FOR BUT MOST HAD TO BE RE-INTEGRATED INTO WEARING CERTAIN THINGS BECAUE IT WAS ALL WE COULD DO...WE DIDN'T BUY JEANS AND MADE SURE THE SHIRTS AND UNDER GARMENTS WERE TAGLESS...AND WE ROTATED A LOT...THEY DID NOT WEAR THE SAME TEXTURES TWO DAYS IN A ROW...SWEATS ONE DAY AND KAKHIS THE NEXT DAY...IT IS GOING TO BE A CHALLENGE NO MATTER WHAT BUT THAT'S WE DID...THESE KIDS SEE THE WORLD COMPLETELY DIFFERENTLY THAN WE DO, WHICH I AM SURE YOU ALREADY KNOW...I WISH YOU THE BEST OF LUCK

Answer 6

Bring her with you next time when you go shopping and give her choices to pick out. Talk to her about why she doesn't like buttons ect. and show her its' for style and if that doesn't work try a different type of cloth (texture) and see if she likes it. Good luck!