I don’t know what we’re going to do

We had a really difficult morning because Emmett would not tolerate shoes or socks once again. 

I went last night and tried to find new socks that he might be more comfortable with but he wouldn’t even try them on. This morning however, he was finally able to put on one of the pairs of new socks but would not tolerate any type of shoe over top of them. 

After about 90 minutes of exhaustive effort, we finally got him to wear his slippers. He wasn’t happy about it but it happened.  

One of the many, many attempts to help Emmett find something to put on his feet for school today.

The battle to reach that point was horrible. The screaming was overwhelming for us but the whole thing was beyond overwhelming for Emmett.  This thing is heartbreaking and I don’t know what else to do. 
Nothing works. 

We’ve tried deep pressure, countless different types of socks, countless numbers of shoes, brushing, joint manipulation, sensory rice box and even foot massages. We’ve even tried to straight up bribe him as well. 

It’s so bad at this point, Lizze and I are actually considering homeschooling him. 

This morning has totally burnt me the fuck out, and we still have four more days to go this week. 

Rob Gorski

Full time, work from home single Dad to my 3 amazing boys. Oh...and creator fo this blog. :-)
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Jp

I work with kids with autism on sensory issues etc
We had a child who would wear no socks. Bare feet or shoes without socks or crocs in school. We live in Canada we have temperatures up to -40 Celsius right now ever -15 Celsius. I think Around 5 farenheight. And she seems ok

Another kid who hated stuff on hands with OT we worked on a slow progression to get him use to it
I find the more they go without something harder it is to put on

Likes kids I have don’t want to wear a coat. But come summer won’t take coat off.

I have worked with many many kids of many different levels.

dotdash

Why not just let him go to school in flipflops? Kids went to school barefoot a lot in the 19th century. He’ll be a bit cold, maybe, but better he go to school than stay home. He can bring shoes with him for if the cold outweighs the sensory problems. I agree with Braden: homeschooling seems as if it would be overwhelming for you guys (for anyone, frankly, who doesn’t have an absolutely compliant child).

dotdash

Why not just let him go to school in flipflops? Kids went to school barefoot a lot in the 19th century. He’ll be a bit cold, maybe, but better he go to school than stay home. He can bring shoes with him for if the cold outweighs the sensory problems. I agree with Braden: homeschooling seems as if it would be overwhelming for you guys (for anyone, frankly, who doesn’t have an absolutely compliant child).

Rob Gorski

The problem is the temperature and when it’s in twenties it’s too cold. Homeschooling is a last resort, I totally agree.

Braden

I’m on my phone so I apologize for the brevity of my post….I seriously hope you don’t consider homeschooling. The level of effort required on top of everything else you document on here is not going to manageable for you.

I feel like you would be setting yourself (and emmett) up for failure.

JR

Sorry you’re experiencing this, and even more sorry Emmett has to endure this every day. My question to you from earlier comments remains outstanding: do you have a daily regimen of sensory-related activities that you do with Emmett? Not just in the moment of the struggle (in other words, not just “hey he can’t put his shoes on right now let’s try standing in rice and then putting shoes on”)- but activities that you do throughout the day, not just when he can’t tolerate putting his shoes on. You haven’t really made that clear. Sorry to harp on this, but as I’ve said earlier, it’s a daily routine of activities that has a potential cumulative effect to provide the sensory input he needs. That would have a greater chance of success than trying to use sensory activities as an “in the moment” solution.

And I assume you were half kidding about the bribing – if bribing could solve the problem, it’s obviously less about sensory issues and more about something else…

Best of luck- this ain’t easy.

dotdash

Why not just let him go to school in flipflops? Kids went to school barefoot a lot in the 19th century. He’ll be a bit cold, maybe, but better he go to school than stay home. He can bring shoes with him for if the cold outweighs the sensory problems. I agree with Braden: homeschooling seems as if it would be overwhelming for you guys (for anyone, frankly, who doesn’t have an absolutely compliant child).

Jp

I work with kids with autism on sensory issues etc
We had a child who would wear no socks. Bare feet or shoes without socks or crocs in school. We live in Canada we have temperatures up to -40 Celsius right now ever -15 Celsius. I think Around 5 farenheight. And she seems ok

Another kid who hated stuff on hands with OT we worked on a slow progression to get him use to it
I find the more they go without something harder it is to put on

Likes kids I have don’t want to wear a coat. But come summer won’t take coat off.

I have worked with many many kids of many different levels.

dotdash

Why not just let him go to school in flipflops? Kids went to school barefoot a lot in the 19th century. He’ll be a bit cold, maybe, but better he go to school than stay home. He can bring shoes with him for if the cold outweighs the sensory problems. I agree with Braden: homeschooling seems as if it would be overwhelming for you guys (for anyone, frankly, who doesn’t have an absolutely compliant child).

Rob Gorski

The problem is the temperature and when it’s in twenties it’s too cold. Homeschooling is a last resort, I totally agree.

Braden

I’m on my phone so I apologize for the brevity of my post….I seriously hope you don’t consider homeschooling. The level of effort required on top of everything else you document on here is not going to manageable for you.

I feel like you would be setting yourself (and emmett) up for failure.

JR

Sorry you’re experiencing this, and even more sorry Emmett has to endure this every day. My question to you from earlier comments remains outstanding: do you have a daily regimen of sensory-related activities that you do with Emmett? Not just in the moment of the struggle (in other words, not just “hey he can’t put his shoes on right now let’s try standing in rice and then putting shoes on”)- but activities that you do throughout the day, not just when he can’t tolerate putting his shoes on. You haven’t really made that clear. Sorry to harp on this, but as I’ve said earlier, it’s a daily routine of activities that has a potential cumulative effect to provide the sensory input he needs. That would have a greater chance of success than trying to use sensory activities as an “in the moment” solution.

And I assume you were half kidding about the bribing – if bribing could solve the problem, it’s obviously less about sensory issues and more about something else…

Best of luck- this ain’t easy.