Panic attack re: hair or nails cut?!!!

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-08-2007
Panic attack re: hair or nails cut?!!!
5
Tue, 10-02-2007 - 1:13am
Hello! This is a wonderful board! My friend does not have internet at the moment, and her ds(8) has full on panic attack episodes when he has his hair or nails cut. He absolutely can not be reasoned with - it is as if you are injuring him. This was not a problem until last year - he used to tolerate haircuts - not enjoy them, but not get really upset. He is a quirky kid - not medically diagnosed as PDD but is "educationally diagnosed", has sensory issues and adhd, which is why I thought this board may have the answer....what should they do? The developmental pediatrician and psych they see have suggested a reward system - not working for this situation. Any thoughts or similar experiences?
TIA
April
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-28-2006
Tue, 10-02-2007 - 1:27am

Hi April.


Well I will tell you what I did with my son when he got his first haircut and freaked out... Nothing.

Avatar for toryanna
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Tue, 10-02-2007 - 6:58am

Victor used to have painc attacks when we got his hair cut. Letting his hair grow wasn't an option because we were in Texas and all he had to do was walk outside in the summer and would be covered in sweat at 2 years old. Anyway, so what we'd do is we'd pick an imaginary place to be ( like Indigo region in Pokemon) before we went to get hair cut. I'd let him know that we were going to get hair cut, but we'd pretend we were somewhere else. The barber I took him to was very nice and very understanding. We'd sit in the chair and she'd put the drape on him and all. Before she'd start cutting (with scissors, not shears) he'd close his eyes and we'd go on the most vivid adventures. If he felt his hair pull, we'd pretend that Bulbasaur pulled it because he loved him, and this got us thru the first few years.


After a while, he got used to haircuts is just a part of life. He doesn't like them, but he doesn't like the hair on his head either. When he wanted his first high and tight, I went and got hair clippers from Wal-mart and cut it myself. Wasn't wonderful but he knew what he was getting into.


At the begining of the school year, a little boy was in the barber getting his hair cut and started screaming half way thru. The mother was hysterical and the boy was freaked. I went over and started talking to the boy about cars.(His favorite thing) This got him calm down enough that the barber could finish his hair cut and he wasn't paying attention to what was going on around him because he was SO excited to be talking about cars. Now normally I wouldn't have intervened at all but Victor was having a panic attack because the boy was having one. He BEGGED to not go to that lady in the barber shop. Told him not to worry about it and go stand near Dad. Dad and him could use the same barber.


Anyways, hope these few ideas helped some.


iVillage Member
Registered: 06-25-2003
Tue, 10-02-2007 - 10:07am

My first question is what happened a year ago?

-Paula

visit my blog at www.onesickmother.com
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-19-2007
Wed, 10-03-2007 - 1:00am

I treated a kid once with these symptoms who felt like if your appearance changed then you weren't the same person any more. We spent a lot of time "practicing". There's a play-doh thing that squishes hair (playdoh) out of a plastic head. We'd cut it and then make it regrow, talking all the while about how the head was still the same. We drew pictures about this. I drew sketches of the kid, with transparent plastic overlays with hair of different lengths. We'd grow and shrink the hair by changing the overlays. There used to be a Barbie type doll that could grow and shrink its hair, but I don't know if it's still on the market. You could do all of these things between haircuts, and see if they help.

Similar techniques work for kids who freak out when they see kids in Halloween costumes.

Beth www.bethkingphd.com
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-08-2007
Wed, 10-03-2007 - 1:13am
Thank you for all of the replies! It is a serious panic attack - they have talked him into it, and then he still rants on and on (crying and screaming) and needed to wear a baseball hat to school for weeks (against school rules but they allowed it) because people could see the haircut. Also, he will tug on his hair to try to pull it longer (after the cut) so they have just stopped having it trimmed. I will suggest the play-doh idea. I thought even if they could trim the dogs fur together and see that he looks fine. They don't know what brought on the change - he has never liked having his hair cut, but would tolerate it - especially for a reward.
Thanks again!
April