Clothing issues

Do children with SPD have issues with clothing like wearing only long pants and only long sleeves no matter what the weather is like?



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Feb 08, 2015
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starstarstar 		sensory issue?
by: tjnl

My oldest daughter, from the age of 2 to 8(now almost 23 years) wouldn't wear anything with straps (overalls and jumpers)or jeans. All pants had to be "stretchy", leggings or sweats. She didn't want her shoes put on and once they were on another battle ensued, tying them. Everything was "too tight". Thankfully she outgrew this, but it was an ongoing battle for 6 years. When my younger daughter started doing this, I put my foot down wouldn't allow her. Eventually, I allowing her to choose between two outfits each day. Once she made her choice, that is what she was stuck with, barring accidents etc. With my older daughter, i wish I had done what I had done with my younger daughter. It isn't so much a sensory issue as it is a control issue.
Aug 07, 2010
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starstarstarstarstar 		Clothing it Will Get Better!
by: Tyler's Mom

My son was diagnosed with SPD at the age of 5 and is now 6 1/2. He had an outfit that he called his "fancy outfit" that was a mickey mouse tank top/shorts pajama set. I had to buy 7 of these because it was all that he would wear. It took a few months of seeing an OT, but now he wears pretty much anything except shirts with buttons. Just be patient, it will get better. And yes, it is hard (but they are worth it)!
Jun 18, 2010
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starstarstarstarstar 		Get second hand clothes they help
by: Lisa

My daughter was diagnosed with tactile sensory disorder 2 years ago and went to the courage center for therapy. She would literally scream and barricade herself under the coffee table and scream as a 3 year old if you expected her to brush her teeth, or her hair, wear clothes or God forbid wear socks, shoes, or underwear. OT Therapy at Courage Center really helped and we have come a long way. Still have some issues with clothes.

Her entire last year of preschool (she just finished) she wore the same pair of underwear the entire year (and she goes 5 days a week). YES mom's I washed them every night (seems insane) but I love her so much I was just glad she was comfortable. She wore 2 dresses (never shorts or pants) to school every day. Alternated them back and forth, back and forth, some of the children said things and I am worried kindergarten may be tougher. Some of the things that have helped are getting second hand clothes from the thrift shop, they are worn out and get 2 sizes too big and cut out the tag before even showing them to the child. Also worn out socks and underwear that are oversized from other siblings really help. Your child will look like a little ragamuffin but at least they feel okay.

By the way the Courage Center had us do the brushing therapy of her body protocol and I would say that was the most effective in bringing her forward in her journey. She can now brush teeth and hair and will wear oversized shoes socks and underwear. Keep up the faith!
May 12, 2010
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starstarstarstarstar 		finding cloths
by: Brenda

With my 10 yr old son, clothing is getting harder to find. He won't wear short sleeves, so finding soft light wt shirts is difficult. The tee shirts you can buy,like in Michaels I buy 2 of each color and use the second one to make long sleeves to sew on. I'm having a hard time finding pants,soft,elastic waist and cool for summer. He wont wear shorts or anything with a button or zipper.YIKES
May 11, 2010
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starstarstarstarstar 		I have found a link for soft clothes
by: Anonymous

hoping that this will help or at least worth a try. My DD is too big for the clothes now but I have been receiving info from the site for over a year now and watched them in the testing and development of their clothes.

Here's the link
http://www.softclothing.net/

I feel your pain-

When my DD was 8, she only wore 2 dresses and no underwear. We had to use habitation (wearing other clothes for short periods of time -10-15 minutes to get used to them) to desensitize her so she could wear pants and underwear for school. We worked with a child psychologist at an anxiety clinic as well as an OT. The Dr, had my DD first do habitation in her office - sometimes a trusted outsider can get your child to do things that you, as parent, cannot.

Also this helped - a point system for rewards.

Find something that your son really, really wants-

Then have him work with you on clothing to earn it. It really helps to make the reward bigger than the fear or in this case the trying to get used to other clothing.

Also when wearing the different or new clothes - distraction is wonderful. Something like playing games, running, jumping, anything that directs his attention away from concentrating on the clothes.

Take baby steps of wearing the new things for short periods and then work into long periods.

The first success was when my DD actually ripped up one of her two dresses after a month of habitation. Small successes built into larger ones. Yes, we still have set backs but nothing like it was before. (My DD sometimes actually cried when she tried on er new clothes at home,) I just let her and she did work her way through it. So expect tantrums and the worst behavior in the beginning. I think the emotional outburst is just a way of working through it.


We to this day, give points for my DD (she is 11) wearing new clothes. At the end of the month, she gets to cash them in for dollars or whatever.

Hope some of this helps.

But I do know that it gets better when our children are older.




May 10, 2010
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starstarstarstarstar 		Oh yeah...
by: Anonymous

My kid wont wear long sleeves!
I took him shopping to FEEL the clothes first because he said only soft clothes for him, right?
We get home after i bought all these really nice soft shirts, when we got home to try them on he announced that he doesn't wear long sleeves and NO buttons on the shirts!

I had to bring them to my friend to cut all the sleeves off and hem them!!! LOL
And my daughter, they have to fit EXACTLY right, length of sleeves, and her shirt cant go over the top of the pants too far, and they have to be tight, and it goes on and on and on in the morning!!!!!!!!

Now, i ask them what they want to wear to school before i iron anything!!!!
They are newly 6 and 7 yrs. old!
Aaaaaahhhhhh, LOL
These are our babies, LOL
We have to pick our battles!!!
Kim
May 10, 2010
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starstarstarstarstar 		My son won't wear clothes!
by: Anonymous

I have a real problem with my 8 year old son! Since he was a toddler, he would get out of his clothes, but he is anti-clothing at all lately. I am sure it has to do with the temperature rising, but he is missing school because of it. My son is so sensitive that even on good days he will only wear majorly loose pants that he has stretched out beyond staying up. He has to literally hold them up! He will not wear overalls because of the feeling of the straps over his shoulders. This one pair of pants that he will wear is almost 2 years old. I have bought new pants of every style and gone to thrift stores to make sure they are worn out already, but nothing helps. I have sewn this one pair together several times and have even "lost" them to see if we could get him to wear something else.

Has anyone dealt with anything like this before? I won't even go into the shirt issue other than he has only 2 shirts that he will wear that are both button-front camp shirts that are also very worn. Suggestions are welcome:)
May 10, 2010
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starstarstarstarstar 		Clothing
by: Angie

Clothing for my boys is an issue. My oldest has to have his clothes fit just right. The neck of the shirts/cuffs on sleeves can't be too big or too loose.Socks with seams he can't stand. Both my boys have a real hard time going from winter clothes to summer.

I think it all depends on what feels right to the child but clothing issues is one of the things listed for SPD.

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