Always wears school uniform!

[Einstein]

Hi! I havent been on this site for ages but my son is 7 and wears his school uniform all the time even at weekends and its becoming a real problem as he gets strange looks from people. We went on a camping weekend recently as of course he had to wear his school trousers and school sweatshirt the whole time! All the regular kids were in "normal" clothes ie jeans and t shirts etc.

 

Yesterday we went to his school fayre and he was in the tug of war team and he looked weird being the only one in school uniform and the other kids were asking him why he was in his school clothes.

 

Dominic always dresses as a character. At the moment he is Luigi (from Mario games). He insists on wearing a green baseball cap and braces! Which looks even stranger over his uniform.

 

He has a whole wardrobe and chest of drawers full of "regular" clothes but he refuses to wear them.

 

Also, on the VERY rare occassions in the past when he has worn other clothes it has to be plain and tops have to have no logo or design on which is vertually impossible to come across in the High Street.

 

Help!!

[Clare63]

I can empathise with you here, my son will only wear very simple/basic clothes - very plain t shirt no logo, no v necks, no long sleeves and jogging bottoms all of which I find very difficult to find on the high st too. Because his is so adamant he won't wear anyhting else his clothes are very tatty and its embarrassing when we go out as he looks such a scruff. He will wear his uniform Mon through Fri but again its fairly tatty as he woun't entertain the fact of wearing new trousers if they are not exactly the same as the ones he's got ! pants and socks are a nightmare too think we have about 3 pairs of each that he'll wear though we have drawer fulls of ones he won't. He inisits on changing ALL his clothes every day so I am constantly washing and trying to get stuff dry for the next day.

 

I will read with interest and hope any suggestions the others may have.

 

Sorry I have not been any help, but I do understand

 

Clare x x x

[Einstein]

Thanks for the reply!

 

Socks are a problem for us too. They have to be very very soft and soaked in fabric softener. If he can feel a lump or bump they have to come off. He is so fussy!

 

I know what you mean about a tatty uniform. I bought some new school trousers the other day as the crotch went in a pair and he kicked up a fuss as they were too loose round the waist even though I could adjust them to his size. He wanted them "exactly" the same as his old pair.

 

My husband find this whole thing bizarre and thinks he looks like a geek when he goes out.

 

In some ways I do try and understand and sympathize as I know he feels comfortable and at ease in his school uniform but on the other hand other kids are beginning to notice and I want to teach him whats acceptable.

[lil_me]

It's a tricky one, which may be best tackled over the holidays. My son went through something similar. I had to HIDE all of his uniform clothes and say they had to be sent away for the holidays. By the end of the holidays he'd worn several types of clothes which he would then wear afterwards. First few days were hell, we knew it would be and were prepared for that.

 

He still of course hates non uniform days and refuses to wear clothes other than uniform at school. I still buy the same make trousers for the school year, we start off with 7 pairs same size and fitting, also the same tops, by the end of the year they're usually getting a little tighter (but I of course buy them a bit bigger) and we're usually down to 3 or so pairs of trousers etc like now but it helps a lot not having to buy different types through the school year.

 

Oh shoes, nightmare, why do they stop making the style they like or not do them with velcro! When I buy him new shoes he usually hides them as he doesn't want to wear them. I did my bulk buy last time and bought 3 pairs in 3 sizes for him but the sole split on the pair he had and couldn't get them any more!

 

Going to be fun in September for us as he starts a new school with a different colour uniform.

Edited June 24, 2007 by lil_me

[Guest Lya of the Nox]

how bout making a weekend/ holiday uniform?

maybe for a bit all have similar t shirt colours??

i never had the clothes issue, she hate the feel of some, but likes clothes soo much she used to wear 3 or more outfits at one time

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[pearl]

Brings back memories - no probs these days, but for years JP would only wear seasonal clothes, no matter what the weather was like - its summer so I HAVE to wear shorts - etc.

 

He's only started wearing a belt recently, so a whole new world of grown up trousers has opened up.

 

And I used to have to remove all labels as he couldnt stand the feel of them.

 

His aunt (self dx'd Aspergers) refused to wear her own clothes in 6th form & continued wearing school uniform (this was way before I met mr pearl, but I clearly remember her, we went to same school)

 

And his cousin (AS traits) once wore a pair of ladies tights on his head at a family wedding!

 

As for finding plain clothes - what about the school uniform section in catalogues, they do plain sweatshirts etc in different colours so it might be a gentle way of weaning him off?

[krystaltps]

C has rules about clothes, and it usually boils down to texture, maximum coverage and predictability. It could be possible that your son likes the feel of the school uniform - C will only wear fleece-lined clothes (with the exception of school trousers, "but you have to wear them because that's the school rules" - bless). It's also possible that your boy likes the consistency - knowing what he's going to be wearing and how it will feel against his skin - if this is the case, over the holidays you could encourage him to wear an "out-of-school-uniform", explain that this is what people do. Find what he likes in terms of texture and coverage (sleeve length, etc.) and buy lots of the same outfit. This is what I have to do with C - fleece-lined cotton jog-suits with long sleeves in blue and gray, or green and gray. He has 3 sets of each, and will wear nothing else out of school, even in summer. But at least it's not school uniform.

He used to dress in character too - fortunately the school were very understanding, as he went to school for a month as Spiderman, but they had to draw the line when he wanted to wear a turtle-shell (TMNT). He's been better with this since he was told about his dx, he dressed in character so that he didn't have to be himself.

Hope this helps...