venuseagle
Snowy Owl
Joined: Jan 11, 2008
Age: 41
Posts: 147
Location: South of England, UK
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 Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 4:39 pm Post subject: Zipper on your jacket or coat done up all the way? |
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My son has HFA and cannot tolerate wearing a coat or jacket or cardigan unless the zipper is done all the way up. Even if the zipper is half the way down he gets distressed. Anyone else relate to this?
Venus |
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momtanic
Blue Jay
Joined: Jul 02, 2007
Posts: 93
Location: New Orleans, LA
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| Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 4:42 pm Post subject: |
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| My 9 year old son is the same way! He ALWAYS zips his zipper up to the top! I tell him he doesn't have to do that..but he always leaves it that way.... |
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tharn
Toucan
Joined: Apr 22, 2008
Age: 33
Posts: 255
Location: Iowa
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| Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 4:42 pm Post subject: Re: Zipper on your jacket or coat done up all the way? |
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| venuseagle wrote: | My son has HFA and cannot tolerate wearing a coat or jacket or cardigan unless the zipper is done all the way up. Even if the zipper is half the way down he gets distressed. Anyone else relate to this?
Venus |
Tell him the zipper is supposed to go down EXACTLY 1/6th of the way down. That way, there's a very precise "right" answer on how far down it's supposed to go. None of this crazy "I dunno, zip it down just a bit" stuff.... I mean, how far down is "a bit"? I know when I was younger, this sorta thing would keep me up at night. o_O
It's even part of a larger rule. You NEVER button or zip all the way up to the top unless you're wearing a tie. The top button on a dress shirt is called the "idiot button" because only idiots button it. In Basic Training, I made the mistake of buttoning the idiot button on my field jacket. I was asked, "Why the @#$# is your idiot button buttoned?!" The answer was, of course... "Because I'm an idiot, sir!" 
So yeah. It might be less about the zipper... and more because he doesn't have a solid RULE about why it's zipped down, or how much. 
Last edited by tharn on Thu May 22, 2008 4:46 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Lily_cat
Kitty!
Joined: May 12, 2008
Posts: 1053
Location: London, Ontario
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| Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 4:44 pm Post subject: |
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| I'm like that I want my shirt zipped up either exactly all the way or exactly 5cm from the top - all my sweatshirts/hoodies have marks on them for 5cm. |
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venuseagle
Snowy Owl
Joined: Jan 11, 2008
Age: 41
Posts: 147
Location: South of England, UK
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| Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 4:55 pm Post subject: |
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The biggest thing about zippers that my son cannot cope with is the zip not being done up at all. He cannot tolerate or cope with wearing something that has a zipper if the zipper is completely undone. This has lead to meltdowns which last until the zip is finally done up. With reference to what tharn says I don't think my son is flexible enough for a rule that says the zipper is allowed to not be done up at all. For whatever reason he feels that if the zipper is there it must be done up.
Venus |
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tharn
Toucan
Joined: Apr 22, 2008
Age: 33
Posts: 255
Location: Iowa
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| Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 5:06 pm Post subject: |
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| venuseagle wrote: | The biggest thing about zippers that my son cannot cope with is the zip not being done up at all. He cannot tolerate or cope with wearing something that has a zipper if the zipper is completely undone. This has lead to meltdowns which last until the zip is finally done up. With reference to what tharn says I don't think my son is flexible enough for a rule that says the zipper is allowed to not be done up at all. For whatever reason he feels that if the zipper is there it must be done up.
Venus |
Hmm... maybe it's that zipper flopping around everywhere, all asymetrical on one side like that. If only they made some sort of "zipper lock" to secure it... perhaps a safety pin or some sort of metal clip. I find that for me, at least, it doesn't matter how silly or clunky the solution is, as long as there IS a solution. Or you could just get him a jacket with buttons, or have him just not wear a jacket if it'd be worn open anyway, if it's causing crises. Does he have any helpful input on the subject?
Or heck, why not just let him zip it up if he wants? |
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Brittany2907
Neopets Addict
Joined: Jun 10, 2007
Age: 21
Posts: 4920
Location: New Zealand
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| Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 5:27 pm Post subject: |
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When I was a young child I would always insist that I had zippers on my jackets done up all the way. I can't even remember why this was, but I remember having arguements about it with my mother when she was saying the weather was too hot to have it all the way done up.
Now, zippers just annoy me (doing them up and undoing them is a hassle, and they always seem to get jammed!) and I prefer to wear things without them.
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serenity
Phoenix
Joined: Feb 26, 2007
Age: 34
Posts: 1464
Location: Invisibly here
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| Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 5:51 pm Post subject: |
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| venuseagle wrote: | The biggest thing about zippers that my son cannot cope with is the zip not being done up at all. He cannot tolerate or cope with wearing something that has a zipper if the zipper is completely undone. This has lead to meltdowns which last until the zip is finally done up. With reference to what tharn says I don't think my son is flexible enough for a rule that says the zipper is allowed to not be done up at all. For whatever reason he feels that if the zipper is there it must be done up.
Venus |
My 6 yo is this way. I don't think it has anything to do with sensory issues. I think it's just one of his many "rules". He could be sweating to death, and he'd never allow the zipper to budge from the all the way up position. lol Not only that, but he inspects to see that everyone else has theirs done up, too. |
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krex
Phoenix
Joined: Jun 21, 2006
Age: 49
Posts: 5106
Location: Village of the Damned
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| Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 6:43 pm Post subject: |
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For one thing.....so? Let him have it zipped up all the way or don't buy cloths with zippers. As far as to the sensory issue....if you have sensitive skin,try rubbing the zipper against it...it's like barbed wire and when you turn your head it will scratch you. That doesn't happen if it is zipped all the way up because all the "barbs" are connected to each other.
Just to illustrate that not all aspies are the same(duh, I know you all know that but incase an "expert" is reading this and wants to start DXing kids autistic who zip their coats up all the way:D ). I can't stand anything around my neck. I use to even cut the whole collar out of my T-shirts (also the sleeves on them because I didn't like my arm pits covered either..very sensitive area)and the bottom off of them if I had to tuck them in.
So, before people totally rule out sensory issues. Some aspies like extra pressure and sensory input because it makes them feel more secure and "in their bodies" they need the feed-back, some prefer little to no stimulation because it is destracting or painful and some have no reaction to the same stimula in that body part but might in another area. Now just for fun...it can change over time. I have gotten desensitized to many things just because I'm old an most oldsters become less sensitive(good bye,dying neurons, you wont be missed).
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KingdomOfRats
Phoenix
Joined: Nov 01, 2005
Age: 29
Posts: 3583
Location: Manchester
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| Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 7:43 pm Post subject: |
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re...zip all way to top.
maybe it could be a routine thing for them,because theyre used to having it that way it could have become a part of their routine,
then again it depends on how they are with routine.
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asperity
Sea Gull
Joined: Jul 04, 2007
Age: 51
Posts: 234
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| Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 8:05 pm Post subject: |
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At least it's better than hating zippers.  I couldn't stand to have them near my face or neck for a long time, because when I was a kid my mother caught the skin on my neck in a zipper. Pinched it hard enough that it drew blood. Wow did that hurt  . I wonder if there's such a thing as zipper-phobia. |
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gbollard
K’Anpo no... Cho-Je... whatever.
Joined: Oct 06, 2007
Age: 46
Posts: 4498
Location: Sydney, Australia
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Josie
Phoenix
Joined: Apr 26, 2008
Posts: 645
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| Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 1:13 am Post subject: |
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| haha. I am totally like that. I rarely wear a jacket or a zip sweatshirt unless it is zipped. |
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johnpipe108
Sea Gull
Joined: Dec 12, 2007
Posts: 229
Location: Santa Rosa, CA, USA
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| Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 1:21 am Post subject: |
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| krex wrote: |
So, before people totally rule out sensory issues. Some aspies like extra pressure and sensory input because it makes them feel more secure and "in their bodies" they need the feed-back, ... |
That's an interesting observation; some of my body-garment issues make more sense now.
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