For the nearly a year now we have been running a series of blog posts which we have called “Autism and Challenging Behaviour“. These have varied from how to deal with meltdowns to going having a haircut.

In fact I’ve used it to get advice on issues relating to John our 8 year old son with ASD.

Last week in our Facebook page AutismTalk one of our readers asked the very reasonable question “anyone have trouble cutting your childs toe nails?”.

With well over 200 responses I thought this would be a great opportunity to share some of the tips shared by our other readers.

If you have any suggestions it would be great if you could use the comments box below to tell us more.

So here goes (and my apologies to anyone we have missed out) :-

“My 6 yo asd adhd sounded like we were trying to cut a limb off when we were cutting his finger and toe nails so I did them when he was asleep. Now he cuts them himself with nail clippers (under our supervision). He feels grown up, it’s far less stress for us all and the job gets done. Xxx”

“Its a sensory processing problem. Can get better through therapy. My 5 yr old is same way. Hes about to begin his therapy.”

” My son is now 15 and finger and toe nail cutting were always a problem. Unfortunately he has solved it by now biting them but the trauma of fighting gets too much after the many years. He hates hair cuts and grew his hair long. Then one day I told him he needed to have it cut and he had it cut to zero! Now he keeps it short by letting me give him regular trims but only when he is Sat in the bath. These sensory issues are traits of autism and we learn to cope with them along side our child as they grow. As we find a coping mechanism for one trait another trait appears. Good luck to you all xxx”

” I have a kicking 2 year old. He loves deep pressure and general “horseplay” and I discovered when he needed ear drops that I could roll him in a blanket like a burrito and he actually enjoys it! I use burrito boy method for lots of things now, including toe nail trimming! He just laughs and thinks it’s the greatest thing ever.”

“I feel for you, it’s so hard, like no one else would believe……our support team told us to brush toes or fingers first with a medium texture brush….perhaps toothbrush or something ( u can get sensory brushes from America) but that seems to send the right messages to the toes and fingers to expect pressure…..hope that’s some help. Good luck, keep going, we all hear you.”

“I only do my sons after a bath so his nails are soft. And with some reassurance and promising i wont hurt him. He lets me do them while singing 12345 once i caught a fish alive etc. Xx”

“My son is 5. He is okay when I cut his finger nails but his toe nails is torture for him so I do it when he is watching tv or playing with his tablet. Washing hair has gotten better but he doesn’t like it when I’m pouring the water on his head. I tell him to cover his eyes and I try to rinse him off as quickly as possible and dry his face first when done. I think it helps too that I use a handheld shower head since it rinses the hair a little quicker. Good luck! I forgot to mention that having a visual schedule helps a lot. Try reminding him a day before that you will be cutting his nails and take a picture of you cutting his nails and show it to him next time to remind him and prepare him.”

“We used to. Then I told him that when he’s sleeping tiny monkeys poop in his finger nails and toe nails. Lol now when its time to cut his nails he is thankful that we’re cleaning out all that monkey poop”

“Just keep doing it on a regular basis build it into a routine and he will accept it mostly but if like mine still has off days lol just repeat repeat repeat youll get there in the end also offer a bribe i find that works usually something he likes good luck”

” Try using a nail file its way less scary for the child. I work in a day centre”

“Try massaging arms & legs firmly then gradually making your way down to hands & feet if the child is old enough explain & let them watch same with hair washing, put a mirror in the bathroom firm massage helps with the sensory & it would make our lives easier.. Mine is 14 now & he does his own, life gets better with time.. Goodluck.”

” Counting helps my daughter. So for example letting her know what number I am on and how many more we have left. She use to scream and kick and try to get away. Now counting she doesn’t. She understands the process behind counting so maybe that helps her mind understand!”

So what are your tips? If you have a question you would like to ask our group about autism and challenging behaviour why not write to info@patienttalk.org.

Many thanks in advance!

 

JenP

When my son was younger numbers calmed him, so first we’d count out each toe as I clipped, but sometimes that wouldn’t be enough. He also loved Thomas The Tank Engine, each main character engine had a number painted on its sides, so we combined the trains and numbers and cut each nail in order. I would name each train in order of number to matxh each toe clipped. Thomas, Edward, Henry, Gordon = 1, 2, 3, 4, and so on. Kept his concentration and thinking of sources of happiness.