Autism and clothing (summer edition)

autistic people can have issues with clothing and dressing ourselves for vastly different reasons and it's a strange sort of area because there are so many different factors at play there's the sensory aspect of clothing which i'll mostly be covering in this video additional disabilities or neurodivergencies for example dyspraxia that might make it physically difficult to get dressed or affect your ability to tie laces or do buttons external cultural and social expectations for example around religiously mandated dress required clothing for certain professions or school uniforms then there's gender performance or self-expression what statement are you trying to make with your clothes if any and body size is a factor too there are limited options in larger sizes and of course disposable income because clothes are expensive and even for those who really don't care what you wear as long as it's comfortable the reality is that your clothes send a message to the people around you even if that message is i really don't care what i wear as long as i'm comfortable we know that people make what's known as thin slice judgments that is people size you up in a matter of seconds and this includes using your clothes as an indicator of in-group out-group status wealth or class sexuality or gender professionalism this is a bit of a loaded term i don't really like it not just for autistics who might struggle with the sensory aspects related to dressing so-called professionally but also for example black people who are told that the natural way that their hair naturally grows out of their head is unprofessional so it's a really loaded term and i don't like it very much because post pandemic you know we've all been on zoom calls with people's kids and cats like puking in the background so isn't it time to drop this veneer of what's professional and what's not anyway that was a bit sidetracked where was i oh yes so i'm going to talk about clothes [Music] so we know that no two autistic people are the same we know that by now but there are definitely common patterns in areas where we struggle with clothes for sensory reasons there's a big debate between loose versus tight loose can be comfortable but is not necessarily always comfortable i'm one of these team tight but stretchy and i like wearing compression clothing especially on the bottom so like you know leggings and stuff because it's stretchy and it allows me to sit like a pretzel as i go about my daily business and obviously there's there's just as many autistic people that would disagree with that their preference would be for looser clothing every time for me in general i hate feeling constricted which is different from pressure constriction means that you can't move around so for example tailored tailored work where that is very tight and restrictive in the shoulder the lack of stretching clothes also often triggers like sort of body image issues for me giving me the feeling of that i'm going to hulk out of these clothes if i move too much which i actually did during my pregnancy i have a maternity coat that had a rip all the way down the back because i literally hulked out of it when i put it on i really don't like things especially around my shoulders that are restrictive and neurodivergent people may themselves have different areas of the body that they need restriction or pressure or looseness in different parts so for example i need pressure or form-fitting fabric around my middle in general because i hate being brushed with fabric basically anywhere between like the ribs and the hips so if something is sort of the closer to my body the better but like i said things have to generally be loose around the shoulders then we come to visual aspects of clothing there are two sides to this when i asked on my community tab uh people there were definitely two camps here there's the camp i need neutral plain calming pallets all black all white or beige or whatever and then there's the i need these prints that are vibrant and bright i need to be stimulated by my clothes i am very much a print seeker i'm a visual seeker so i always drawn to the prints when i go shopping i would get really bored if i had to wear plain neutral clothes every single day but sometimes you just want to chill and blend in so today this is a quite a neutral actually quite neutral look because i've got beige on the bottom and reasonably neutral t-shirt on on the top sometimes you do just want to blend in a little bit it's a vibe but i do struggle shopping because nine times out of ten i get sucked into looking at the prints and then i forget that i actually need to order things that don't make everyone around me really sick and then there's fabric synthetic fabric which is basically plastic makes it harder for your body to regulate temperature and you'll get sweatier and natural fibers tend to be more breathable can be more sustainable although even natural materials do have environmental cost and they also tend to be softer unless you're looking at sort of like hemp items one fabric that is especially soft is bamboo and a lot of people who responded to me said that they also really love bamboo then we come to labels and seams and annoying things that itch and many of us struggle with labels and often cut them out although i do feel like labels have gotten softer over the years but maybe i've just coarsened up i've cut out labels of some of my clothes definitely in the past i don't cut them all out though many of us also struggle with seams that are itchy especially on socks uh some of us struggle with wearing socks actually underwear i could probably do a whole video on underwear and especially how much boobed autistic people hate bras i'm not going to i am actually team bra because i find it extremely uncomfortable to not not wear a bra but i tend to get wireless wireless yes that's the one i'm looking for wireless bras yeah i also find pants an issue for the americans pants or trousers for me pants are what americans call i don't know under pantaloons or something it is difficult to find the right stuff um has to be the right cut otherwise you know it's just gonna be something you're adjusting all day really has to be the right pair of pants pantaloons underpanda loons sorry and of course the thing about clothes is that you have to shop for them and if you have really specific sensory needs this can cost a lot of time and energy and money and shopping for clothes is really not easy for me going into actual clothes shops is a special kind of hell and something i rarely do because it's noisy and the trendier the shop the noisier they seem to make it the changing rooms are often cramped i don't know if anyone else ends up like hopping around leaning against the side of the wall for balance trying to trying to put things on but that's usually me if you hear thumping and bumping and changing rooms that's probably me and i'm not having that kind of a good time and it's basically the whole experience is kind of a sensory nightmare but of course if the shop is right it's quiet it's relaxed there is no capacious changing rooms i can i can enjoy the experience ish but shopping out and about always involves either walking or driving to shops which comes with its own set of executive functioning and sensory issues so no matter what you choose there are drawbacks in each area even in the best environment i will usually feel quite overwhelmed after i've been shopping so probably 90 of what i buy is online and online shopping makes things easier but there are still difficulties obviously sizing is a difficult one to get right when you're shopping online for everyone but then if you need to return something there are extra steps required to return that and if you have adhd or other executive functioning issues this can be hard to make sure that you return things in the right way or in the right time frame and you don't just leave it in the hall waiting to go out for three months or something so it kind of ended up being much more expensive because you have to try more things and even things that claim to be you know buttery soft or is butter soft but even things that sell themselves in comfort aren't necessarily always that's not always the case when when you get the item and now a quick word from our sponsor if you're into things that are comfortable and stylish look no further these are called loop earplugs and they are a great addition to your daily life because of how discreet and cute they are they've got different sized ear tips in foam and silicon so you've got a much better chance of finding a good fit i've been using these ones which are called loop quiet for about a year now and they are very comfortable to sleep in because they're made from silicon and basically lie flat they provide medium noise blockage very useful if you have a baby but i can still hear the baby needs me in the night i also recently tried these ones which are called loop experience pro i tried them up at a concert and they made an otherwise very loud experience quite bearable music and speech remained clear and i didn't have any ringing in my ears by the end of the night and they come in a great array of colors so i actually think they look really cool and quite nice especially if you're someone like me with a nickel allergy and you can't wear earrings they kind of look a little bit like jewelry i think there's a discount code for you if you use my link in the description box below so please check them out if you're interested now back to the content so a question that i asked myself when i was preparing for this video is can you actually make a piece of clothing or a clothing line sensory friendly so that it would suit autistic people but i think ultimately autistic people often have conflicting and opposite needs a lot of the time which means that one piece of clothing can never rewrite for all people but i think that there are some general principles that clothing companies could follow to make things more accessible more sensory friendly and that would not just benefit autistic people but it would probably benefit a lot of other people so for example there should be no tags this would also save i don't know money and resources just printed under the fabric soft waistbands or wristbands would be great natural fibers obviously for breathability not putting extra buttons or you know those tiny little pockets they put on women's t-shirts and you just think why is this pocket even there is that like to hold your pen or your mouse or your mouse's pen or something also the bows on the front of women's pants like what's that about generally annoying things there for decoration that don't even look that good we'll just scrap all of that and just make it as easy as possible to put the item on so now it's time for just a little bit of fun i wanted to show you three different outfits and explain how they fit my sensory needs outfit number one we'll call mom chic today sam is wearing an outfit for the mum on the go or off the go she's rocking her mom bun paired with a white linen shirt that's extremely breathable and some black carhartt utility leggings they've got pockets she hates the feel of fabric brushing against her skin so underneath she's wearing a cotton bodysuit that clips at the crotch but is surprisingly not that annoying she's wearing shoes that she's replaced the laces with elastic laces allowing her to slip them on and off more easily and exerting just the right amount of pressure every time outfit number two fun with friends here sam is wearing a 1960s inspired flower power dress from top vintage this dress gives vibrant visual stimulation for boosting the mood or feeling like you're on a trip without the drugs it's got stretchy material that makes it comfortable and it's surprisingly versatile you can wear it with leggings or not easy to put a cardigan on and you can dress it up or down with shoes i don't know what this voice is what am i doing outfit number three dressing up sam doesn't often get dressed up anymore but when she does she still needs to be comfortable this is for a hypothetical fancy event let's say it's a wedding she really likes the aesthetic appeal of floaty dresses but to be honest this isn't the best material so she's improvising she's wearing a body underneath it but also high-waisted shorts so the feeling of the fabric brushing against her skin doesn't bother her all day generally speaking northern european summer still requires something on top so she's got this ted baker jacket which is probably over a decade old that is extremely soft and strokable and this shape of jacket really works because the puffed sleeves give enough movement around her shoulders to be comfortable in tailored clothing relatively speaking of course so i hope you enjoyed me having just a bit of fun in this video let me know what your clothing must-haves or must-have knots are in the comments below and also if you actually enjoyed this video should i do an autumn winter version of this remember that the best clothing for autism is clothing that you love and that makes you happy this is not an example of what autism wears or anything like that it's just a few examples of outfits that i wear and why i wear them and what adjustments i make to help me out and make it more comfortable for me so it doesn't cause kind of a sensory build up or sensory overload don't forget to check out loop earplugs using my link below and the discount code take care of yourselves and i'll see you next time bye it's got stretchy material collars and shirt sleeves what what am i doing but otherwise i just get regular seamless bamboo blue blah blah blah blah blah don't forget to check out the checkout don't check out your loop earplugs check out your loot earplugs coming up and the next gymnast thank you thank you very much

Channel: Yo Samdy Sam

Views: 20,545

Keywords: autism and clothing, autism and clothes, autism clothing

Id: VkZH3QYqD6U

Length: 13min 17sec (797 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 25 2022