When Your Son Has Sensory Issues...

"This is choking me. Why do I have to button all the buttons?" Tommy asked as he tugged on his collar.

"That's how you have to have it for graduation," I explained as he made gagging noises.

"I hate it," he answered.

Since he has autism, he's always had sensory issues. Certain things he cannot wear or eat. He's gotten much better with it. When he was tiny, he couldn't even handle play-doh without freaking out.

Now he's graduating in a short ceremony and he has to wear proper attire. Proper attire means a collared shirt and a tie. I'll be the first to say that I don't understand boy clothes as much, so I didn't realize collared shirts had different neck sizes. Oops.

So I told him, okay, I'll get you another shirt with a larger neck size.

He still hated having it buttoned up, but says he can at least breathe. But he will not do a tie.

"It's choking," he said.

So we went with a bow tie.

"It's still choking, but not as horrible," Tommy replied. "I can handle it. I guess."

Yay! I mean, he still might look uncomfortable at graduation, but most people at the school know his quirks. Plus it's a short ceremony, so he won't be sitting there for hours. I told him he can handle it for one hour.

"I'll try," Tommy told me solemnly.

His graduation is June 17th so we'll see how it goes.