Buying clothes for son with autism a real challenge

My son's go-to pants
for school from Lands End 

Most parents view clothes shopping for their kids as a fairly straight-forward event. Go to store, pick out clothes – maybe have the little ones try them on – and then head home. Not so for me – and I’m guessing other parents of children on the autism spectrum. I thought of this yesterday when the Lands End school uniform catalog arrived in the mail (didn’t school just get out?)

Despite OT, my son has poor hand-eye coordination so any pants with zippers and buttons are out. When he was younger, it was fairly easy to find pants with an elastic waist. Not so any more. He now wears a size 18 or 20 and there are few choices that have an elastic waist besides running pants. While those work for him on nights and weekends, he can’t wear them to school. He goes to a private school with a dress code that requires khaki pants. I’ve searched high and low to find khaki pants with an elastic waist. I have gotten lucky at Lands End although they are pricey. As for jeans – another staple of many teens’ wardrobe -- I previously found elastic waist jeans in his size at Walmart, but not anymore. I guess he is now too big.

Shoes are another challenge. Just like with zipper and buttons, tying shoes is a challenge for Michael. He can do it, but it takes a long time and his knots don’t seem to last long. When he was younger, Velcro shoes worked great, but as his size got larger – he’s now officially a men’s 9! – finding shoes with Velcro is nearly impossible. I finally found online some laces that tie and lock into place that I can use for his shoes.

As for his shirts, Michael is a chewer – although we have cut down on that problem dramatically in the past few years – but I do have to watch out for anything with drawstrings or zippers, which can be very tempting for him to start chewing on.

Other children may have problems with tags and fabric; luckily, Michael hasn’t had that. But clothes with “itchy” tags can complicate clothes buying for some parents.

I guess buying clothes – something that is simple for many parents – is just another challenge we moms of children on the spectrum have to contend with.