Children's Heads, Hair and Nails - Deep pressure to help tactile defensiveness

Many of the children we see in our Hairy Planet salon have sensory dysfunction and so have tactile defensiveness, finding it very uncomfortable and flinch when their scalp is touched or going to be touched.

This is often coupled with behavioural difficulties developed over years of children resisiting to have their hair touched, and parents understandably avoid touching or brushing, and can tend to keep  their child's hair short (if they are able to attend to hair cuts at all).

There are several ways of helping with this - and families that attend our salon are shown different techniques to help de-sensitize the scalp.

Sometimes, it's a using a different type of brush or comb - and applying deep pressure massage to your child's head regularly (daily where possible).

Avoid light touch as much as possible - it exaggerates the tactile defensiveness further.

Nails:

You can apply the same principals for nail cutting - apply deep pressure and finger exercises before nail cutting. A good time to cut nails is after a bath, when their nails are soft.

As well as using your hands to massage, other ways you can apply deep pressure to heads are:

• Pulling strings of a hooded top
• Using an elastic headband
• Using a stretchy cap or hat
• Ask your OT about a weighted cap or hat - you can get these in thinkingtoys.ie

For further advice, and to book an appointment, you can contact us at the Hairy Planet via Hometrain: info@hometrain.ie

Following a great open clinic day in Cork - we are holding an open clinic day on 11th Feb in Dublin - with resources, advice and a 6-week programme tailored for each family. Not to be missed! Call us to book your appointment: 087 6907663

More about The Hairy Planet here: http://www.hometrain.ie/hairyplanet/

Claire.

Christmas Show Planning for Kids with Special Needs

O.k. it's that time of year again! If you are looking for some ideas on putting on a Christmas show with children who have special needs, or you have a mainstream school and have one or more special needs children - here's my advice for your plan this December!

1) Try to avoid creating an 'all new' series of activites and songs. Include elements of your group's routine, such as your greeting's song, circle time etc. This will help your group feel comfortable and show off the skills you practice every week.

2) Have the children make as many of the decorations as possible. Even if they don't take part in the whole show, their contribution can be made in other ways. For example, paint a huge cardboard Christmas tree together. Write the children's names at the section they painted and add decorations they made.
There are printable decorations on my Christmas colouring page: http://www.hometrain.ie/christmas/

3) Make a card or gift for children to give to each other. We are making cards with our group's photo on the front, and each child makes and decorates one. During our Christmas show, they will give their card to a friend.

4) For children who are non-verbal, make decorated cut-outs of the following shapes. Try the song below.
Get a copy of the instrumental version of 'Partridge in a Pear Tree'. Give each child a shape to hold (attaching the cut-outs to sticks helps) and get them to stand or hold up their shape at the right time.
If this is tricky, be clever with your seating arrangements!
Another bit of advice is to decorate your shapes both sides - this will save you having to remind children to turn them around!!

A STAR FOR THE CHRISTMAS TREE
Tune: “A Partridge in a Pear Tree”

One the first day of Christmas,
My teacher gave to me –
A star for the Christmas tree.

On the second day of Christmas,
My teacher gave to me –
Two strings of lights,
And a star for the Christmas tree.

On the third day of Christmas
My teacher gave to me –
Three silver bells,
Two strings of lights,
And a star for the Christmas tree.

On the fourth day of Christmas
My teacher gave to me –
Four candy canes.
Three silver bells,
Two strings of lights
And a star for the Christmas tree.

On the fifth day of Christmas
My teacher gave to me –
Five Christmas bulbs.
Four candy canes,
Three silver bells,
Two strings of lights,
And a star for the Christmas tree.

4) Make a programme for parents. Write a short description of the show and the different songs. Add a note about each child and how they participated. Add a photograph of their child helping with preparations - i.e. painting the tree or making decorations.

5) Make mince pies or biscuits for the families, display the children's work. Decorate the room.

6) Don't stress if the children do not participate. If your group all have special needs, you will not be expecting them all to sit perfectly and not want to go to their parents. Arranging the group in a circle can help with this, with parents in a greater circle around them (so they can see their child).

And that's it - I'm looking forward to our show on 17th - Hope yours goes well, and any more ideas are greatly appreciated!

Our Christmas Ideas page has lots of festive printables: http://www.hometrain.ie/christmas/

Merry Christmas!

Claire x

Preparing Children for a Hospital Visit

'How do I prepare my child for hospital?' This is a question that faces most parents at some time or other.
Closely followed by 'How do I explain it?' and 'Should I prepare them at all?'

The answer to the last question is 'Yes' - preparing your child for hospital is essential - even though it might seem easier at the time to say nothing, a prepared child will cope far better. Not preparing children can also lead to problems regarding trust.

"If your child knows what to expect, they are more likely to be co-operative, cope better and gain a sense of achievement."

The CD-ROM 'Going to Hospital' is an essential guide to explaining hospital to children of all ages.

Choose your child's age category

Dodi covers babies and toddlers                            

                                           Digg is for 4-7 years
                                           Hazel covers 8-12 years
                                           Buck is for 13 - 16 years  

Each character has their own menu - so you select your child's age category. Each character's menu has a selection of topics, such as:
Preparing for a hospital visit, taking medicine, preparing for surgery and waiting areas.

This means for every age group, there are different ways of explaining and preparing - these relate to each age category and contain relevant language and descriptions.
The different characters also have games, quizzes and colouring pages that suit all age groups - such as the word search or picture quiz.
There is a section on relaxation and breathing techniques with a guided relaxation story that your child can download and listen to - or you can print and read to them. This is designed to aid relaxation and teach your child coping techniques. It's a good idea to use this before your admission.

Child-friendly explanations and illustrations.

    As well as a comprehensive guide that covers a visit to hospital, there is an extensive Parent Information section which lists child-friendly decsriptions of hospital procedures and equipment, important information and guide about distraction, information about siblings, a list of 'Do's' and 'Dont's' and steps for preparing your child. 

In the printables section, there are numerous colouring pages, a handy packing checklist, pain scale, reward chart and word search. All designed to help your child become familiar with hospital images, equipment, words and procedures.

'Going to Hospital' is available worldwide - online or by post with our order form, which can be printed from our website.

To find out more:

http://www.hometrain.ie/gth/

Social Story about visiting 'The Hairy Planet' Salon

When you visit the Hairy Planet, you arrive in the playroom.
There are toys, books, blocks, a TV and a games console.
We have a soft area called the den where you can relax and play on our big hairy floor cushions. There are DVD's and computer games to choose - or you can read, build blocks, play with trains.
There are chairs for your parents too.

You will see bubbles, spinners and buzzy toys, and there are people and other children to play with.

Playing in the den area

Some of the games help you learn how to cope with getting a hair cut.
Some of these games are called:
Snipping Circles, Buzzy Bugs and The Wiggler!

We use lots of hair dresser things when we play, and some games are very silly and fun - like spraying water on our heads!

Learning to spray and comb

You learn how to spray and comb or brush your own hair in the mirror.
You learn how to use words or pictures to say when you are calm and ready.
You choose your favourite colour towel.
You choose where you want to sit.
You choose what you want to play with.
Girls can choose pretty hair slides, clips and hair ties.
You can choose scissors or clippers to get your hair cut.
You choose what to watch on the DVD player.

You can watch and talk about other children just like you getting their hair cut.

Choosing a DVD to watch can help

Hair cuts do not hurt. This is because your hair does not have any feelings.
So when Jenny's gentle scissors trim your hair, you don't not feel anything.
Sometimes the buzzy feel of the clippers can make you feel uncomfortable, but we can help you, and stop for a few minutes if you need a break.
Having a hair cut can be quick too - especially if you are playing computer games or watching a DVD. You can even hold onto the sand timer.


Sitting still really helps. If you can sit still, haircuts can be finished really quickly.
Then it's playtime again! You get a whole hour to play with whatever you like at the Hairy Planet.

The people who help you play at the Hairy Planet are called Claire, Jenny, Karen and Anna.
You can bring your own favourite toys, and your brothers or sisters can get a hair cut too.

No stress! Sometimes, you might need to come for a few visits before you will feel ready to get a hair cut.

Relax and watch a DVD

You'll be so proud of yourself when you go home looking very smart and have tidy hair!

And when it is time to go home - you can choose a lolly, bubbles or crayons to take home.










For more information, videos and booking the Hairy Planet: http://www.hometrain.ie/hairyplanet/

Giving Choice and Control to Cope with Haircuts

Well The Hairy Planet - the Hair Therapy for Kids Salon is running, and here's my thoughts so far on what's the secret to the sucess of the Hairy Planet programme:

When preparing children for any invasive proceedure, there are three important factors:
1) Preparation
2) Choice
3) Control

Making Choices for Coping

These 3 cover the basics of what is required to help cope with a stressful or fearful situation.
We have to remember at all times that fear of hair cuts 'Tonsurephobia' - be it a perceived fear of pain or not - is a very real fear. Tonsurephobia can have several influencing factors, including sensory dysfunction, imaginery perception of pain, and fear related to a stressful incident (possibly a bad home hair cut experience...)

The fear that many toddlers have of parents trimming their nails is a significant reference - we can relate this when we examine how young children with special needs have the ability to rationalise or distinguish pain and the fear of pain as easily as typically developing children. How children with special needs experience and express pain is an important factor. There are many children who are reported to have a high pain threshold i.e can run head first into a door and carry on about their business. But when faced with a hairbrush, will fly into a panic. Sound familiar??
As a trained Hospital Play Specialist, I used techniques to prepare children for sugery and other invasive proceedures, and the Hair Therapy programme has it's roots in the same theories and protocols.
The 'Hair Therapy' approach is both behavioural and cognitive - with a combination of preparation, choice and control learned at every step.
Here's one example: We use our 'Buzzy Bugs' game to: 1) Experience the sensation of the clippers 2) learn to control the clippers with the Stop, Wait and Go traffic lights.
Having control over the buzzy bugs is just one way how we teach the children to request verbally or using traffic light PECS how we control the clippers. Eventually, we introduce the small clippers to touch, hold and turn on and off using the same principles.

Learning Control and Desensitization

Making choices and learning about different sensation is vital - but we are also adding group dynamics into the mix.
The therapuetic value of groupwork in the Hairy Planet accounts for a great deal of its success. Whilst children attend, they are observing other children having hair cuts and learning to cope in the same way. There is no pressure, parents and children alike are relaxed, mums and dads can come and go when needed.
The children attending learn by observing others, playing out their fears and learning to cope with their difficulties in a child-friendly environment.

There is more about the Hair Therapy and videos here: The Hairy Planet

The Therapeutic Side of The Hairy Planet

To book - click here:

Here’s the serious side to the Hairy Planet.

A child who has a fear of haircuts can make haircut time a distressing experience for the whole family.

So how does The Hairy Planet aim to make a difference?

Firstly – the name. The Hairy Planet was chosen to be fun and child-friendly.

Secondly – the environment. The Hairy Planet is laid out like a ‘den’ with big, hairy scatter cushions and rugs. There’s computer consoles, DVD player, toys and music. No hairdresser smells or hairdryers. You can open or close the mirror, play with hair dressing equipment and play games.

Hair Play Therapy:
Children visiting The Hairy Planet will take part in different types of play activities that are designed to address their coping needs and help modify behaviour.

Cognitive, though:

·         Information

·         Choices and Control

·         Stress/Anxiety Management

·         Attention and Distraction

Behavioural, through:

·         Participation in activities

·         De-sensitization Training

·         Behaviour Modification

Choices and Control:

Children will be asked is there anything they can see or think of to make them feel better when they get their haircut.

Allowing children the ability to make changes so they feel more comfortable are control-related coping strategies.

Children can make choices of where they sit when their hair is cut, what they would like to hold, who they want with them, which toy, watch a DVD or Playstation game, or listen to music.

Calmness Scale:
Stress/Anxiety will be measured using a calmness scale – which is a visual representation of calm, slightly anxious, anxious, very anxious and panicky.

Attention and Distraction:
Toys, games, music, computers and DVD’s are available to the child having their hair cut. These will be selected by the child before they have their hair cut. Other distraction toys will be introduced as needed or requested.

De-sensitization Training:
For children who have sensory dysfunction, we have a selection of vibrotacile toys that imitate the sensation of hair clippers. 

There are games and activities for children to play, touch and feel.

With guided supervision and safety equipment in place, Children will have the opportunity to touch, turn clippers on and off, and feel the clippers against their skin.

Behaviour Modification:
We will use the calmness scale with each child to understand their perception of haircuts.
Highly reinforcing toys and activities are available at times throughout the play session – and are given to children freely during and after their haircuts.

Parental Involvement:
Prior to visiting, parents are asked to rate their child’s coping ability at the hairdressers on a calmness scale:

1)     Calm

2)     Slightly Anxious

3)     Anxious

4)     Very anxious

5)     Panicky

Parents will be in the seated waiting area, and will be called in as each child is preparing to have a haircut. This will be when they have chosen their activity and are ready. Parents will be invited in to discuss their child’s hair with the stylist.

It’s fine to take your child home straight after they get their haircut, but staying for the end of the session is a good idea. This way, they will have time to relax and play before going home.

For your child’s comfort, bring a clean T-shirt to wear after their haircut.

You can bring a favoured DVD from home if your child prefers.

Please remember:
Children may or may not get their hair cut. No child will be forced to avail of a haircut, and we understand that it may take time.
Some children need a number of sessions before they attempt to have their hair cut and we offer a special rate for children who need regular visits.

The Hairy Planet is open Saturdays, to book – please contact Claire at Hometrain.

Phone: 046 9091163 or 087 6907663

Email: info@hometrain.ie

The Hairy Planet - Coming Soon!! Yay

O.k I can't wait any longer....are you ready for the Hairy Planet to open? After months of planning....oh - just read on!

Having a good experience in the hairdressers is something we take for granted. For children with sensory dysfunction and those who develop fears about visiting the hairdressers, hair cut time is a stressful and difficult experience – and has a huge impact on family life.

Did you know that a fear of haircuts is called Tonsurephobia?

Regular hair cuts are essential, and Tonsurephobia is a serious problem for many families.

So how can children learn how to cope with their difficulties and fears?

Children can now visit Ireland’s only Kids Hair Therapy salon.

Join the 100’s families that are ready to welcome to launch of The Hairy Planet!

It’s a hairdressers – but not as they know it!

Devised and run by established Play Specialist Claire Whyte, The Hairy Planet is a multi-sensory play experience in a fun environment that helps children learn how to cope with hair cuts – or to just have their hair cut in a cool hairdressers!

Children visiting The Hairy Planet will:

·         Play with other kids in a small group

·         Experience sensory play including vibrotactile toys

·         Explore hairdressing equipment in a safe, fun environment

·         Play computer games, watch DVD’s

·         Choose to have a hair cut with quiet clippers

There are: No strong smells from shampoos or hair dyes, No hair dryers and No loud clippers.

How does it work?

Each session includes no more than 5 kids: sensory play, hair therapy play, having a hair cut by our own hairdresser, watching DVD’s and playing computer games.

Customers can book a single visit or a regular session to de-sensitize (special offer rates for regular visitors)

Any child can attend, including siblings, schools and charity groups.

Price per child is €18 per session.

We know children.

Children may or may not get their hair cut. No child will be forced or held to avail of a haircut, and we understand that some children need a number of sessions before they attempt to have their hair cut.

Private 1-1 sessions are available if needed.

We open on Saturday, 15^th October! Book Now!

Where is The Hairy Planet?

We’ll be open every Saturday at The Bangla Therapy Centre, Balrath,

Co. Meath (near Navan on the N2) Thursday sessions coming in November.

About Claire (if you don't know me already...)

Claire Whyte is the Co-Director of Hometrain Ltd and the leader of the established Hometrain Social Skills Group and Social Skills Summer Camps in Co. Meath.

Claire worked for many years as a Hospital Play Specialist in Our Lady’s Hospital, Crumlin - preparing children for cardiac surgery and painful procedures.

Her experience also as a Home Tutor with special needs children, and her work with many families have lead to the research, development and launch of The Hairy Planet.
Claire is also the author of Hometrain’s educational resources and software.

Please contact for more details and booking by phone or e-mail at Hometrain:

Office: 046 9091163     Mobile: 087 6907663

E-mail: claire@hometrain.ie or info@hometrain.ie

Website: http://www.hometrain.ie