Neurospicy Summer

Summer has arrived!

I love the cheerfulness of sunshine-y weather, and I love being able to be outside more and to let Little Peggy wander freely through the house and garden without having to pile coats on or worry about wet feet. I LOVE being able to hang the washing out to dry on the line more often (or having it dry without being rained on thrice first...). Summer feels light, airy, cheery and free, at least when it's not oppressive and deathly like last year's 40°c heatwave...

I'm sure you sense a "but" coming.

Is it the "but" of "incessantly hydrating and applying suncream to toddlers is a pain, even when they're compliant"? Or the "but" of making sure you don't kill the plants (all two of them) by forgetting to water them? No, I'm sure everybody has their own minor inconveniences of summer, just as with every season, but you don't need me to tell you about those.

I don't want to be negative about summer or about being neurodivergent, but at the risk of sounding like a whinge-er I want to talk about a few considerations that feature more particularly in a neurodivergent life and might not seem an issue to others. Some are from my own experience and others are observed, mostly from my neurospicy work life. Perhaps they seem minor or strange to you or perhaps you think, "well that's annoying for everyone." Maybe so, but if someone in your life has seemed out of sorts this week it could perhaps be that they are dealing with some of this or similar, on top of whatever else life is throwing at them right now, and the struggle is genuine.

Suncream

Gotta start with that one! Suncream can be a sensory nightmare for any child (or adult) but even more so someone with sensory processing differences. I remember screaming blue murder at my Mum as a child "you're pulling my arms off!" 

The smell, for one - love it or hate it, we all know the distinctive smell of summer. But if you're a child you probably don't get to choose it, you can't get away from it once it's on you and you're stuck with that extra, possibly distressing, sensory input all day. And then consider arriving at school to find that there are six different brands of suncream that your classmates are all wearing: six different smells to constantly filter through the brain's processing departments.

And next there's the texture - sticky sticky sticky! You stick to yourself, and stuff (like sand) sticks to you. Also everyone looks shiny all of a sudden... Personally I can tolerate suncream although I do hate the texture of it. I buy the spray on creams now I'm an adult, because they leave me less sticky, and I apply sparingly only in the places that really need it. Adults in childcare settings tend to slather on liberally. It's much quicker. And you know they're safe from the sun. But maybe think twice - perhaps you could improve a child's day by applying carefully.

And finally, let's not discount the effect on routines and expectations: suncream adds an extra (and unexpected, for a while) step to the routine of going outside or getting ready in the morning. This could be a real problem for some people.

Routines

While we're on the topic of routines, these can change with the weather too - often we go outside earlier in the day to avoid the worst of the heat. This means other things move around and we don't know what to expect from day to day. "Yesterday we went straight outside when we got to school, I can't wait for today." But then today we don't. Or, "We've gone outside before our usual morning activity. When will we do that activity? What if we don't do it at all?".

We may also need to schedule in extra drinks, especially as recognising thirst (interoception) can be tricky for neurodivergent types. Washing routines may change and any other routine you can think of really! 

Clothing

Hats... some love 'em, some hate 'em. Some, like Little Peggy, can be adamant one way or the other depending on mood.

I have enough of a problem swapping from winter to summer coat (and then to none), but there's more to the summer adjustment than this.

They are awesome shorts
from a wonderful friend.
And now they say neenaw
instead of brrm!

In our house we've also had to work hard on the transition to short sleeves. Little Peggy is not so keen on them. Even before the hot weather he wouldn't tolerate having sleeves rolled up for water or messy play. If his trouser leg or sleeve (or mine!) got pushed up he would pull it down or say "oh no" to ask me to. I remember getting shorts out a few weeks ago to see whether we had any in his size. I knew about the short sleeves/trousers issue. I pulled out a pair of shorts with cars on and he was so excited: "brrm brrm!" He wanted to put them on. First they went over his trousers, then I persuaded him to take the trousers off so I could see if they fit properly. I thought I'd done it. Then he insisted on putting the trousers over the top. Even the joy of the car trousers was not enough to get his legs out, so he wore two pairs of trousers that day!

I'm all for people making their own choices but I also need to protect him from overheating now that it is hot hot. Luckily it is now already hot in the morning and we've worked out that it seems better if we put shorts and t-shirt on straight away and long sleeves are not seen. He still usually tries to pull his sleeves down but I think he's getting used to it - there is less "oh no"ing. We've only managed to be sock free one day so far!

And of course in all of this I have great sympathy with him, because I hate it too. I like the sensation of chosen textures (usually 95% cotton 5% elastane!) against my skin. I do NOT like the texture of skin against my skin. ESPECIALLY when it is warm and sticky. I wrote before about trying to get round this issue when breastfeeding. As a child I didn't like skirts or dresses. For many reasons, but one of them being that your legs stick together, at least in summer ones when you don't wear tights or leggings underneath. A big hoody makes me feel cosy and safe. Having the air on my skin is not as bad as touching skin but still feels uncomfortable. Maybe it's partly the weight from the clothing that I like too, adding proprioceptive input to the tactile sensation.

And neurodivergence doesn't just mean autism although I write a lot about that. Mental ill health also comes under the banner (as do many spices that aren't in my personal neurocupboard - ADHD, dyspraxia and many more) and can add further difficulties to the summer experience. In the past I have worn long sleeves to cover self harm in contexts where I felt I needed to. Eating disorders often come with body image issues or body dysmorphia and people may feel uncomfortable in clothing that does not cover their body or shape. People with certain types of trauma may also wish to hide their body. OCD may be triggered by a whole host of summer-related factors.

Temperature 

This one is so obvious that I nearly forgot it! Some people's bodies are particularly sensitive to changes in temperature, and this can also be a sensory issue for autistic people. Simply being hot is distressing or overloading. 

Interoception problems can play into clothing problems meaning that people don't register when they are too hot and can even become ill from overheating or dehydrating without realising.

Sweat

Tied in with temperature, the sensations of sweating can also be problematic if clothing becomes wet (NOT OKAY!!), skin feels different (don't even think about drippy sweat!!) or the body smells different. The need to wash more could be difficult for sensory reasons or because of a change to routine.

Sunshine/light

The sun is bright! Which is lovely. And at the same time it can lead to sensory overload. I love sunny weather but I struggle with too much brightness, and I'm not even someone who gets migraines! It took me ages to realise why I would feel so overwhelmed and exhausted after visiting my family in the post-covid restriction era. I thought it was because I had become unused to spending time there, but eventually I realised it was because I was sitting in the conservatory all day (to minimise contamination). I had brightness all day and I was overloading me. I started wearing my sunglasses for some of the time and it was better. But I also don't really like wearing sunglasses because they change the colours of the world and make it less vibrant and beautiful (to me, anyway). So it's swings and roundabouts! For some people the sensation of sunglasses on their face will also be too overloading so that's an issue to consider as well.

Fans

Visually whizzy, noisy ear-fillers, and disturbing air-movers! Actually, some autistic people really LOVE fans and find them very stimmy. Some love them but find them overstimulating. I find that the sensations (air blowing on me and sound especially) fill my brain, which I can cope with if I'm doing OK but is too much if I'm already a little overdone.

Food

When the weather warms up people suddenly start doing strange things like eating cold food for tea (dinner/evening meal, whatever your preferred terminology!) and eating outside! "Ooh it's too hot to eat much this afternoon we'll just have a light lunch" (what if I'm ravenous?!). These things often happen at short notice too, which is even more difficult for NDs to cope with. Obviously they're not strange to everyone but it's useful to note that what we may not even register as a change is a big difference in some brains.

Change

Perhaps the underlying issue with all of this is change - most neurodivergent people struggle with change, and the changing weather brings all of these different changes I've described and many more I haven't noticed or highlighted here. Even children playing outside more changes the auditory landscape and can be troublesome for some people. Even good changes are hard for a neurodivergent brain to adjust to, and some of those that come with summer are difficult or even distressing for some people.

Executive function

Perhaps this should come under routines, or under change, but all the changes that come with the season change can put an extra strain on executive function. Things that were previously automatic routines may need thinking about (when leaving the house I must now try and remember to take my sunglasses and to water the plants, as well as taking my dinner bag and rucksack which is my routine). There may be additional decisions to make, for example with clothing choices - perhaps I had a routine of which clothes I wore on which days and now I need to develop a new routine of summer clothes, which involves choosing outfits for a time. I need to choose whether to wear a second layer and when to take it off (bear in mind the complicated equation of tactile sensory issues, interoceptive issues and psychological issues as well as practicality about having a place to store the discarded layer and trying to remember to take it home again later!). Of course difficulty sleeping in hot weather impacts on executive function too.

All of these factors mean other executive functions such as emotional regulation become underfunded, as it were, with the effort diverted to adjusting to the changes.

So if you care for someone of a different neurotype, hopefully this will give you an idea as to the kind of things that might be going on for them. It may not be as simple as "defiance/temper/control" in children, or irritability/inappropriate behaviour/exhaustion in adults - the brain and body are doing a whole lot of extra work to try and come to terms with changes, discomforts and confusion. What looks like an overreaction may well be proportionate to what is happening for somebody. Compassion, understanding and a step by step approach can all help to make these things easier, as well as making sure there is even more time/space for whichever activities/environments help your person to be well regulated.