tips

Oversized T-Shirt or Overstretched Collar? Try This

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We all have that old t-shirt or sweater with a collar that’s hanging so loose it could fall off your shoulder. Or maybe you bought a sweatshirt online, only to realize it’s too baggy when you try it on. To some folks, those could be more than minor irritants. A typical quick fix: fold the excess material in and secure with a safety pin on the inside. But that “safety” pin will leave holes in the fabric, and might open up and prick you when you least expect it!

A safer solution is an alligator shirt clip (pictured above). They’re tiny, usually transparent, plastic clips used to keep shirts neatly folded when they leave the factory. If you’ve ever bought a business shirt, you’ve experienced the fun of searching for and removing these. Well, don’t throw them away! If you did, they can also be bought from haberdasheries or online. To use them, just fold in the excess material as usual (usually at the front or back of a slack round collar, or the bottom sides of a baggy t-shirt), then slide the clip on where you would have stuck the safety pin. When you put the shirt on, the clip should be virtually invisible on the inside, and only a crease will show on the outside.

A New Way to Avoid Under-Performing Under Pressure

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Sensory room with hanging chair, beanbag, soft lighting, and calming toys
A softly lit sensory room combines cozy seating, gentle colors, and calming activity tools.

Anxiety is a common accompaniment to autism, and can manifest itself as ‘choking’, under-performing when under pressure to achieve a goal. Examples include under-performing in an exam or job interview due to anxiety at not getting the grade or job you want, even though you had the potential. A new study suggests that you can perform better in such circumstances by thinking you’ve already achieved the goal, and are performing to keep it rather than get it. For example, in an job interview, you can assume that you have the job, and are being interviewed for the right to keep the job. In an exam, assume you already have the desired grade, and are taking the exam to keep the grade. Read more about the study here.

No More Sloppy Collars

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Many on the autism spectrum find it annoying when certain things are not ‘just so’, including their attire. For me, the ‘sloppy collar’ was a minor irritant, especially if I’m wearing a polo shirt or other soft fabric. Thankfully, there’s a couple of tricks that may help with that. One is a collar shaper like the one in the video below:

Video credit: Stiff Collar Stay

To buy, go to www.stiffcollarstay.com

A good addition to the collar shaper are collar stays to keep the collar tips from curling. For collars that don’t have built-in pockets for stays (e.g. polo shirts), you can use stick-on stays.

No More Tying Shoelaces

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Tying shoelaces can be a challenge to children with autism, and shoe-wearers of all kinds find it odd that we’re still fastening our shoes with bits of string in the 21st Century.  Zubits has revolutionized the process with their magnetic closures, which you lace into once, and then fasten and unfasten with the magnetic buckle. They come in a variety of colors and work with any standard lace-up shoe.

Video by Zubits

Fight Negative Thoughts with the ‘Three Good Things Diary’

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Negative thoughts are a recurring problem for anyone, but especially for many on the autism spectrum. Research has shown that keeping a daily record of positive things that happen to you (even small things) can help counter-balance negative thinking. In the video above from happierdotcom, Dr. Martin Seligman explains more about the Three Good Things Exercise.

Blinkist: Read Four Books in One Day

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For some autistics, reading can be a chore, especially if they have other conditions like ADD that often accompany autism. Blinkist is a useful service that summarizes popular non-fiction books into small chunks you can read in about 15 minutes, on your computer, tablet or smartphone. It’s a subscription service, but they offer a free trial. Try it out here!