calum and the hair cut
Up until a few months ago, Calum had never had a proper haircut. He was sensitive to the noise and feeling of combing and cutting and found it very difficult to sit still for any length of time.
Calums parents felt that Calum would feel most relaxed and secure at home, so we brought our own hairdresser, Jenny, to Calum's house. We decided to gradually let Calum get used to the noise and feeling of a haircut. We also used sand timers and simple signs and instructions that we knew Calum understood to let him know how long we expected him to sit in the chair and when he could get up for breaks. We also let him choose a video to watch whilst Jenny cut his hair.
We only asked him to sit for a minute or two at a time, so that Jenny could let him get used to her touching his hair and he just got a bit of a trim over the course of an hour and a half. We took a photo of ‘Jenny Hairdresser’ (as Calum signs/calls her), so we could prepare him for her arrival the next time.
About 6 weeks later, Jenny came back and we used a similar approach but found that Calum was relaxed enough to sit for up to 5 minutes and let Jenny cut his hair. By the third haircut (see photos below), he was happily sitting for 5-10 minutes before having a wee break, allowing Jenny to give him a suitably stylish cut in just over half an hour.
