Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Tactile Defensiveness and Clothing Sensitivity

Last night I spoke to a group of foster parents about parenting and ADHD.  Somehow I forgot to even mention clothing sensitivity. How could I forget that when both my son and I have that? I think the fancy smancy term for it is "tactile defensiveness" but I just call it "I'm not wearing THAT!"

This would include anything stiff, itchy, tight anywhere on the body, anything with tags, a tight neck, etc. No turtlenecks, no pencil skirts for more than an hour or so, high heels, shirts that button up, structured jackets that don't allow totally free arm and shoulder movement, spanx, thongs, anything that squeezes anywhere, etc., etc. In short, anything remotely fashionable. Or at least that's what I used to believe. After becoming determined to dress myself more attractively, I began to search out comfortable things that still look nice. So while I'm still cutting tags out of my clothes and thanking whoever decided boys tees should have no tag . . . I'm really trying to be more mindful of fit and not just comfort. 


Here's an example of how comfort can either look sloppy or stylish. No, I did not lose 20 lbs. between the 1st and 2nd picture. In fact, they were taken the same day. The 1st is my uniform for Mom cleaning and running errands on a Saturday. The 2nd isn't perfect but it is a step up. Here I have a very soft shirt as the first layer with a soft cardigan over it. I think the jeans are still slightly "mom jeanish" but all my dark wash jeans have disappeared. 

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