AUTISM AND TEXTILE SENSORY CHALLENGES
AUTISM AND TEXTILE SENSORY CHALLENGES
In the previous post, I spoke about autism and noise-sensory challenges. In today’s post, I am explaining autism and textile sensory challenges, also known as sensory processing issues with clothes.
Yes, that is right! We are talking about children and adults on the spectrum who have sensory processing difficulties with certain types of clothes.
A little note: please, do not confuse textile with tactile as I will explain later about the latter but for now, we’re focusing on the former (textile).
Now, clothes are made of fabrics, right? And there’s a whole lot of them out there and while some of us know all of them, there are those who don’t know any of them because when we buy our clothes we don’t bother checking what type of fabric they are made from.
And why should we if some may ask, right? Right. BUT until you have an autistic loved one who has textile sensory issues, all of this little innocent ignorance goes out the window.
What does it mean to be textile sensitive?
Textile sensitivity means being super sensitive to certain types of textile clothing. Anyone with this sensory processing difficulty reacts badly to that particular type of fabric.
Some are sensitive to wool fabric, some to cotton, some to polyester, etc. And they each exhibit this sensitivity in different ways. This sensory processing challenge is common to children and adults on the spectrum.
How to tell if someone is textile sensitive?
It’s easy if your autistic child is verbal because they will tell you that they don’t want to wear what you are giving them, and they will tell you why.
You see, the reason an individual would be sensitive to these textiles is that they create painful, tickling, burning, and uncomfortable sensations for them. And each one reacts differently.
This is more like an allergic reaction. People who are allergic to things don’t always react the same way.
Their allergies can be mild like having a rash and getting itchy or moderate like having their faces swollen while some of them, their allergies are so serious that if exposed to what they are allergic to, they immediately go on anaphylactic shock.
Sensory processing difficulties are a bit like allergy reactions to children and adults on the spectrum, hence the sensitivity to different types of textiles and reacting differently as well.
Let me break down how each sensation is exhibited.
The painful sensation
We all know how pain feels like, whether it’s something mild like a headache or something hectic like a migraine, or whatever.
A person with autism’s sensational pain from their textile sensory processing challenge is equivalent to pain like that.
I know it sounds exaggerated but it’s real and it’s serious. Imagine if that individual was non-verbal and did not understand spoken language.
They wished to tell you that they were in pain and that their piece of clothing was a source of that pain but they don’t know how. A child like that would throw bombs.
Very often though, they do try and push the clothing away as my son did, but when you don’t know what you’re dealing with you’d think that the child is just being a child.
The tickling sensation
This is by far the trickiest sensation I know because my son exhibited it. This happened many years ago just after his diagnosis. He must have been 3 years old or younger, I can’t really remember.
Remember, I only got a diagnosis from the doctor and nothing more, and this whole “autism” thing was still new to me.
My son used to have this lime green Ben 10 character pajama top that was made of polyester and some other textile types I can’t remember properly, and the pants were 100% cotton.
Now, every time we got him to wear the top he rejected it. He pushed it away and would take it off. I did not understand back then what was happening.
But all I knew is that when he wore that top by force because I was clearly in the dark about autism and sensory challenges, he laughed like he was being tickled.
He would laugh so hard, and my mom and I would be so confused and end up joining in the laughing spree.
Now, because he was laughing instead of maybe reacting in another way, I had no way of knowing what was going on except that he was in a very uncomfortable and itching position that somehow got him to release this tension by laughing.
Yes, he was laughing but he was going through hell in a pajama top! And before I knew it, the laughing would soon turn to cries, and I would be more confused than before.
And because I was in the dark, I most of the time used my iron fist to subdue him. Little did I know that my baby was in a lot of pain and I was unwittingly forcing him to deal with it in the most crucial way possible.
If he was uncomfortable, then why did he laugh instead of using a correct gesture?
That is a good question. I asked myself also a long time ago and here’s the answer: ever seen a person who nodded their head as a sign of ‘yes’ when they actually meant ‘no’?
Well, that is common with children with autism.
THEIR BODY LANGUAGE AND USE OF GESTURES DON’T ALWAYS MEAN WHAT THEY ARE SAYING. That is why there is always this communication barrier between us and them.
The burning sensation
Ever seen a person who is on fire and is running around and bumping into everything trying to put the fire off of them?
A child who is textile sensitive reacts exactly like that because the fabric on their skin feels like they are burning.
The child would be restless, they would be up and down, they would look like they are itching and they will even attempt taking that textile clothing off.
Some cry and scream and quickly fall into a meltdown stage of helplessness. And when you look at them closely, you will see fear and excruciating pain in their eyes.
But very often we don’t know, and because we don’t know, we end up being the course behind their aggression and violent state.
So, how to know which type of textile clothes my child is sensitive to?
Do what I didn’t do (because I didn’t know). If you see them react to a certain type of piece of clothing, first check the label of that clothing and see what type of fabric it’s made from.
Look for other clothes of theirs that are made from the same type of fabric and confirm if those are also an issue for them. And if they are, then you should make sure to steer clear of them. It is that simple.
I faced all these nightmares once upon a time. I didn’t have the knowledge that I have now, and I wish I had because there are many things I could have done differently with my son.
At least now I get to help you so that you don’t repeat the many mistakes I made because trust me, you don’t want to repeat them.
