Tips for Dressing
Dressing is a transition that is especially difficult for children with sensory-based motor disorder or sensory-defensive children. SBMD children have trouble with dressing due to motor planning challenges that limit their ability to sequence (put steps in the correct order). Sensory defensive children have trouble dressing due to their sensitivity to the feel and textures of certain fabrics. Below are some helpful tips.
Tips for children with sensory-based motor disorder:
Provide a visual schedule to show your child the order in which to get dressed.
A child with balance difficulties or poor postural stability may benefit from sitting on the floor with her back resting against a wall.
Allow your child to choose her clothing, as the child will select those items most comfortable, facilitating the process.
Choose loose-fitting or slightly oversized clothing, such as sweatpants and sweatshirts, as these will be easiest for your child to manage.
Provide clothing with large-sized buttons. If your child has severe difficulty learning to button, Velcro closures may be sewn on instead.
For the child who confuses right and left or front and back, use clothing markers to indicate the orientation of clothes.
Use backward chaining to teach shoe tying, which can be especially challenging. Try buying two pairs of laces in different colors, cutting each set in half and then retying so each lace has a different color on each side. This helps your child to visualize the steps. A good resource for learning about backward chaining is Steps to Independence: Teaching Everyday Skills to Children with Special Needs by Bruce L. Baker and Alan J. Brightman. If shoe tying is too challenging, use Velcro closures or slip-ons.
Buy tube socks, which are usually easier for children to put on than those with a well-defined heel.
Therapro has a dressing vest that enables the child to practice zipping, snapping, buttoning, overall clips, buckle, lacing, tying and Velcro skill practice. The vest is called “I can dress myself” and you can find it at http://www.therapro.com. Also available from Therapro is a book with accompanying CD that teaches children self-care skills through pictures and rhymes. The self-care skills covered are dressing, eating, grooming and toileting.
Tips for the child with sensory defensiveness:
Whenever possible prior to dressing, incorporate some deep-pressure activities for at least 30 minutes as occupational therapists have noted these reduce a child’s hypersensitivities. For example, with toddlers, preschoolers, and young school-age children, you can roll them up in their weighted blanket on the bed and play the hot dog game, or give older children a massage.
Choose clothing that is soft, tagless, and seamless and has an encased elastic waist. Also, do not buy clothes with metal parts, heavy embroidery, or appliqué. Additionally, hand-me-down items and clothes from used clothing stores may work well for these children as they are soft from frequent washing.
Check the inside of your child’s shoes for dirt, sand, or other loose particles as this can send a sensory-defensive child into a meltdown quickly.
Collaboratively problem-solve when your child tells you that her clothes are “itchy” or do not feel good. Tights are an example of clothing that may be problematic for your child. A solution may be substituting cotton jersey leggings for tights to make wearing a skirt tolerable.
Let your child choose his clothing. This increases sensory tolerance, as the child will choose clothing that he finds comfortable.
Provide seamless undergarments to minimize irritation for sensitive children. SmartKnit Kids makes seamless socks and underwear. They can be found at http://www.smartknitkids.com. Some sensory defensive children prefer socks that are slightly too small so they do not bunch up in their shoes.
Be open to your child’s dressing needs regardless of weather. Some children will insist on wearing long sleeves and pants year-round to avoid sensations from air due to tactile hypersensitivity. Other children will eventually adapt to the outside temperature. For these children, a good strategy is to allow them to choose their clothing but carry backup clothing for the moment reality hits them. For example, “Oh, you are sweating, here’s a pair of shorts.”
If you have one of those children who refuses to give up his sandals at the end of the summer, require him to wear gym shoes and socks all year unless you are going to the beach or pool.
Use silliness to encourage positive momentum. In his book Playful Parenting, Dr. Lawrence J. Cohen describes how he encouraged his daughter to dress using play.18 He picked up two of her dolls and staged a silly disagreement between them; one doll insisted that his daughter could not dress herself, and the other insisted that she could. She giggled and dressed herself.