Halos Inclusive Services

This is Pete. Pete is a beach man at heart and loves to surf when the temperatures just right. He has a talented background of wood artistry and has been kind enough to show me some incredible pieces he’s made back in the day. Pete also lives with schizophrenia and chronic fatigue. Together we’ve been working on maintaining his personal care including keeping him tidy and well groomed which has significantly supported his confidence and dignity. This has been a barrier for many years prior to support. It’s been an absolute privilege working along side Pete and watching his confidence grow. 💕

This is Riley! Riley loves all things space, stars, and the universe and is an absolute magician with numbers!! He’s equal parts sass and wit hanging out in an old soul and shines the brightest of colours. He is such a delight and will always make everyone who’s lucky enough to know him smile! Riley also has cerebral palsy, autism and global developmental delay, which also comes with a significant sensory processing disorder.

We have been working together for a few years now with our main focus being on breaking his sensory barriers around hair cutting.

Riley has worked incredibly hard to come as far as he has. In the beginning, Riley’s window of tolerance was so small that even running a comb through his hair, he would become so distressed and we would rely heavily on Mum and Dad for distraction methods and support.

We would change up sensory input, use water play outside using the first and then method e.g “first 3 snips, then more water play”. We would use the sensory brush on his arms and hands and then ask Riley to brush his hair with it. There was alot of avoidance in the beginning.

Riley would become quite distressed if any hair were to fall onto his skin, so Mum would blow the hair away with the hair dryer whilst we managed a few more snips.

Riley has an amazing Meta cat which sometimes will hang out on his lap to enable him to feel safe whilst working on his hair.

The sensory toy box these days is more his favorite along with countdowns for trickier parts of his hair cut, e.g around his ears. He loves numbers, so countdowns work well when he’s needing a sensory break.

We also desensitize before using the clippers. Using the non cutting end of the clippers, we run them up and down his scalp before counting him in before we start.

Chewing gum has been another sensory input change that has supported Riley when he starts to feel uncomfortable or unsafe.

Being at home and in his own environment, not only does Riley feel safe, but he also has access to the shower as soon as we are finished cutting. This allows him to regulate immediately when sensory overwhelm kicks in.

I also move with Riley. Although he stays seated in the chair, Riley still needs the sensory input of movement at times which means i don’t force him to sit still.

What things look like now:

Riley’s window of tolerance has increased significantly! This has allowed longer count down times (so more snips are achieved). Riley has enough trust in me to not have to rely on Mum and Dad for every little snip. I can now send Mum and Dad into another room whilst supporting Riley through his hair cut, which in turn has increased his independence with this aspect of his self care. We no longer need the hair dryer to blow away hair, and Riley has found his confidence inbetween small breaks to keep going until we’re finished.

I couldn’t be more proud of him 💕

Everyone deserves human dignity, self care, and to feel good about themselves. It’s been a great start to the year supporting my amazing clients to achieve their goals in maintaining their personal care to look and feel great! Dignity and self care is a human NEED that when fulfilled can change one’s entire feeling about themselves in the most powerful and beautiful way. 💕