My Socks feely weird! Morning Help for the Highly Sensitive Child

For almost all parents, the start of school marks a significant change in routines. Getting up earlier and needing to do more tasks first thing in the morning may cause children to become irritable or overwhelmed.

Children with ADHD or Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) present an even greater challenge. This ADDitude.com article illuminates the struggle in one specific example, chronicling the morning of a mother and her son, John, a 9 year-old-boy getting ready for the school.

John’s mom raises her voice to get him moving. John feels overwhelmed. He rushes to get dressed, but his clothes feel uncomfortable and he can’t find the right pair of socks: “They all feel funny on my toes.” As things get tense, John’s ADHD and SPD symptoms worsen, and he becomes even more distracted, anxious, and hypersensitive. Neither his mom nor John know what to do.

For more on SPD and the highly sensitive child, be sure to check out the full article. Meanwhile, the takeaways from their experience (excerpt below) can be helpful for all of us.

Here's what ultimately worked for John and his mother:

EATING: John’s mom made a breakfast menu with fewer meal choices. This helped John decide what to eat and have more time to enjoy it.

DRESSING: John’s mom turned the downstairs bathroom into a dressing room. It was next to the kitchen, so he could finish up breakfast and avoid going back up to his bedroom, where he was exposed to distractions.

WARDROBE: John’s mom simplified the morning dressing routine by buying a small plastic drawer unit with six drawers. Clothes for the week were picked out on Sunday night, and put into drawers labeled with the days of the school week. The last drawer became the extra sock drawer. Mom also bought a hamper for PJs, an extra toothbrush and tube of toothpaste, and a hairbrush.

MORNING TASKS: To support the new routine and help John stay on task, John’s mom posted a three-step routine on the bathroom wall in pictures and words.

1. Wash face, brush teeth, and brush hair
2. PJs off and into hamper
3. Take clothes out from drawer and get dressed

This new morning routine worked for John and his family. By using sensory supports, and by prioritizing the information for him, mornings were less stressful for everyone.

Springer wishes each of you a wonderful back to school, and if things are bumpy, remember to be patient and keep trying your strategies. Practice makes perfect--or at least improvement!