INCLUSIVE FAMILY
How to Create a
Sensory-friendly Haircut Experience
BY HEATHER M. ROSS
22 Washington FAMILY MAY 2023
Haircuts involve a wide variety of stimu-
lation from touching a child’s hair to
washing it, to the sound of the clippers or
other customers to tolerating close physi-
cal contact with someone the child may
not be familiar with.

What Parents Can Do
There are a few things parents can do to help
children who have sensory processing diffi-
culties have a good experience with a haircut,
explains family stylist Heather Parker, who
owns Haircut Heather, in Columbia.

Parker has 12 years of experience in
the field and has received training and
certifications in working with neurodi-
vergent children. Parker has also worked
with Verbal Beginnings (which provides
social and therapy services in Columbia
and beyond, with summer programs in
the DMV) to provide haircuts for children
with ASD.

The most important thing parents can
do, according to Parker, is remain calm. If
the parent and the stylist seem anxious,
the child will notice.

Parker says for stylists, the haircut
process for children with ASD involves
getting on their level and moving slowly
while you figure out what bothers them.

What overwhelms one child may not
bother another, as every child on the
autism spectrum can experience the world
differently. Another thing parents can do is look for
a stylist who cuts hair in a more intimate
setting, such as a one-customer-at-a-time
studio. The more intimate environment
removes the stimulation of other custom-
ers and can comfort children who are shy
or more sensitive to having eyes on them.

Parents can also prepare their children
by introducing them to the idea of getting
a haircut beforehand. Let your child know
HAIRCUT: PROVIDED BY HAIRCUT HEATHER;
G oing to get a haircut for the first
time can be a scary experience for
kids, but the fear tends to subside
with more visits. The same cannot be said,
however, for neurodivergent kids, who have
unique sensitivities that make any visit to the
salon or barber a challenge.

Being neurodivergent means you experi-
ence the world differently from many
people. As many parents of children who
have sensory processing disorders know,
this can turn what might seem like a
common errand into an ordeal.

This is because neurodivergent children
often have sensitivities to sights, sounds,
textures and other sensory stimuli. Autism
Research Institute describes this phenome-
non as a result of their senses being over- or
under-reactive to stimulation. They process
sensory information differently.

Some children on the autism spectrum
experience synesthesia. Synesthesia is a
blending of the senses where one sense can
produce another sense at the same time.

This means someone with this condition
may hear shapes, perceive or associate a
certain color with a sound or experience
sound as a physical sensation. Sometimes,
certain sounds or textures can even be felt
as pain. According to research published
in peer-reviewed journal BMC Psychia-
try, synesthesia is more common in people
with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

Autism Research Institute explains that
these differences can present in a variety of
ways, including withdrawing from touch,
refusing to wear certain types of clothes
or eat certain foods, distress when having
the hair or face washed, clumsiness or
odd posture.

All of these factors can make receiving
a haircut a uniquely challenging experi-
ence, and not every salon or barber is
prepared for it.