Do you dread taking your child or just yourself for a haircut?  Every person and every haircut is different.  What works for one person may not work for the next, yet many stylists or salons take the cookie-cutter approach and don’t take the time to accommodate those that struggle with the hair-cutting and styling experience.  Sitting in a stylist’s chair may sound simple, but for someone that has sensory challenges, it can be downright painful.  Luckily some sensory-friendly hair stylists are starting to emerge, and many are popping up in our community.  

Christina Darragh has been a stylist for 23 years.  She owns Nature Nurturing You Salon.  Her salon has been based around holistic healing and using sustainably sourced products.  She herself is a mother of an autistic teenager and knows the struggles parents face when trying to get a haircut for their child and sometimes for themselves.  Christina decided to take her background as a master stylist and her experience as a parent of an autistic to work with sensory-friendly clients.  She says energy and environment is huge for her clients.  To help her with her own child’s sensory challenges, she read “Raising A Sensory Smart Child” by Lindsey Biel and Nancy Peske and has applied a lot of the advice contained within the book in her own salon and how she navigates sensory components.  Prior to a first-time appointment, she reaches out to the parent or client and tries to understand their sensitivities, get a feel for what music relaxes them, get a feel for who they are and what she should avoid and use.  She views every client as an individual every single time and works hard to set up accommodations to meet each individual”s needs and desires.  She says, “I’m really looking at them and letting them guide me.  I’m not coming at them, but rather I’m coming with them at their pace”.

Christina really wants to emphasize “this is a place for people to really be who they are”.  In her particular salon, she says she’s created a calm, therapeutic environment for not just her clients but for parents that are bringing their children for a haircut.  As a parent of an autistic child herself, she recognizes the need to find a sensory-friendly salon for your child, but it’s also important to find a salon that allows the parent to take a moment to relax, recharge and not have to apologize or be made to feel uncomfortable.  

Here are some tips Christina has for families trying to navigate going to a stylist:

Prior to visiting the salon:

• Provide a list of sensitivities
• Indicate if the person is comfortable with sitting in the chair or struggles with it
• Let the stylist know up front if the child/adult can handle the clippers or needs to just stick with scissors.
• Identify a favorite toy the child has that might calm them during a visit to the salon.
• Prior to their appointment, take the child/adult to watch someone else get a haircut.
• Call it a “hair trim” vs. a “haircut” because some children associate a “cut” with pain.
• Let the stylist know if the child does better in a quiet environment or is okay with distractions.

Day of appointment/While at the salon:

• Break up the haircut if you need to.  Do the process in 5-minute increments and take a break until the person is comfortable with the process.
• Bring an extra shirt (the extra hairs left behind in the shirt can be irritating for a lot of sensory-sensitive individuals)
• Have a fund experience lined up afterward so the child has something to look forward to after their haircut.
• Communicate with the stylist.  If something isn’t working, let them know.

List of a few Stylists/Salons that our community says are sensory-friendly:

• Seattle Metro Area
  • Naturing Nurturing You Salon- Stylist Christina Darragh (mom of autistic child)

Home (christinamasterstylist.com)     

 Christina Darragh (@darraghdreamhair) • Instagram photos and videos

206-501-9722

• Outlying Seattle Area
  • Independent stylist: Maia Hollander-Leisti (Maia also is a mom of an autistic child)

425-414-0653

**In addition to the stylists mentioned, we also have a list of additional stylists and salons in our “resource directory”.  It’s located at https://washingtonautismalliance.org/resources/  If you have one that’s not on our list and want to have them added, please reach out to engage@washingtonautismadvocacy.org.