While we all experience the world through our senses, we don’t all experience those senses in the same way. It’s common for autistic people to have sensory differences, with one or more sense being over or under responsive.
Hypersensitivity (over-sensitivity) is where a sense reacts more strongly to a stimulus, leading to a more intense sensory experience, such as sounds feeling too loud or lights seeming too bright. Hyposensitivity (under-sensitivity) is where a sense reacts less strongly and the person has a milder sensory experience, so they might prefer stronger stimuli like flavour, tactile experiences, or smell.
If your child has sensory differences, understanding and working with their sensory needs is important to support their wellbeing and help them to engage more comfortably with the world – and some sensory differences in particular may have more of an impact when it comes to clothing choices for an autistic child.
Tactile sensitivity:
Tactile sensitivity refers to someone’s experience of physical touch. It can affect everyday things, such as how they experience food texture, sensations from routine activities like washing, and even how their clothes feel against their skin. This will be important to consider when it comes to your child’s school uniform. For a child hypersensitive to touch, the texture of clothing fabric may feel more intense to them, creating sensations like extreme itchiness or discomfort. This can become distracting, make it hard for them to focus, and it can also lead to sensory overload.
Interoception:
Autistic people may also experience difficulties with interoception, which is how they pick up on internal messages their body is trying to send them. This might include things like not recognising they are too hot or cold, not noticing they need to use the bathroom, or letting themselves get too hungry. If a child struggles with interoception, they may get too warm or too cool and not realise in the moment that they need to adjust their clothing to regulate their temperature.
Proprioception
Proprioception refers to how we sense our body’s location and movement, such as where are limbs are in physical space or how much pressure or force we need to exert. Therefore, a child with low proprioceptive awareness may benefit from tighter fitting clothes as this gives them feedback about where their body is in space and helps them to feel more secure. However, it’s important to also consider the clothing fabric if your child also has tactile sensitivity.
Deciding how best to support your child might involve a bit of investigating to uncover their specific sensory needs. For example, making a note of the sensory environment when they begin to get overwhelmed, asking them about how they experience different sensations, and paying attention to their behaviour, which can be a way of communicating that they are uncomfortable or in sensory distress. A strong aversion to a routine activity might indicate a sensory experience they are struggling with.
School uniform considerations
Once you have a better grasp of your child’s sensory needs, you can consider things like uniform fabric, fit, and texture. Having them try uniforms on in different sizes and fabrics and asking them how they feel may help.
If you opt to try before you buy, consider all of their sensory needs during the trying on session, to help reduce other sensory experiences getting confused with how they feel in the uniform itself. For example, if they have a sensitivity to smell, bringing something along that they like the smell of, like a soft toy, might help regulate this sense so it doesn’t dominate how they feel so much on the day.
If they like more or less physical pressure, you could adapt the fit of their uniform by buying it in a different size or adding/removing belts or fasteners to adjust its tightness. You could also add a tight vest under their uniform if they prefer firm pressure. Don’t forget to consider socks and shoes as well, as footwear will also contribute to their sensory experience.
Helpful tips:
- If your child doesn’t get on with a particular texture or material, could you source uniform items that look similar but are made with a different fabric?
- If your child finds their uniform too itchy, you could also try removing labels. It’s best to do this by unpicking them rather than cutting them out, so there’s no stub left to irritate their skin.
- Similarly, you can consider seamless clothing, like socks, where possible.
- If it’s not appropriate to give your child bigger or smaller shoe sizes, perhaps you could try using insoles, Velcro, or additional laces to give more flexibility to the fit.
- Where possible, consider using layers to allow your child to add or remove clothing during the school day, so they can adjust what they’re wearing for their own comfort.
Talking to the school
It can be tricky when strict uniform requirements don’t quite meet an autistic child’s sensory needs. It’s important to communicate clearly with the school and help them understand that this is key to your child’s wellbeing as an autistic person, and that they might need some reasonable adaptations.
You may be able to find compromises that help meet your child’s needs while also aligning with the school’s uniform policy, like swapping long sleeves for short sleeves (or vice versa) or bringing a coat or jumper with them but not forcing them to put it on.
Developing a plan in collaboration with your child’s teachers can help them to support your child in the best way possible and clarify what adjustments they require. This can include uniform but might also include other sensory sensitivities they will need to consider during the school day.
Not all teachers will be extensively aware of autism and may rely on your input to guide them, so don’t be afraid to speak up and build an ongoing dialogue with your child’s school. This is useful to them as well as to you – it ensures your child has the best chance of being comfortable and able to focus on their classes, and it helps the teacher to keep things running smoothly in the classroom.
More information
You can find out more information on sensory sensitivities and how to start a conversation with your child’s school in the links below:
