The influence of the properties of school uniforms on children with sensory overreactivity

Abstract

Many children experience a low threshold towards sensory input and as a result, may experience sensory overreactivity (hypersensitivity) to touch, smell, taste, and intolerance for certain material textures (Cheng & Boggett-Carsjens, 2005; Dunn, 1997; Güçlü, Tanidir, Mukaddes & Ünal, 2007). The nervous system responds with “fight’’ (e.g., tantrums) or ‘flight’’ (e.g., withdrawal) reactions when a child experiences sensory discomfort and irritation (Cheng & Boggett-Carsjens, 2005; Karthikeyan, 2017). Children between the ages of 6-13 years spend approximately five days per week and six to nine hours a day wearing a school uniform which provides a constant sensory input to their body (Dąbrowska, Rotaru, Derler, Spano, Camenzind, Annaheim, Stämpfli, Schmid & Rossi, 2016). The impact of constant discomfort and distraction could be detrimental to a child’s education, social participation, play and activities of daily living. While treatment with an occupational therapist surrounding the effects of Sensory Integration Dysfunction is feasible, it is rather important to address the barriers in the child’s environment that may be the root of the discomfort. It is, therefore, imperative to determine which elements of their school uniforms may cause discomfort and irritation, and subsequently implement measures of adaptation.

This study used an exploratory mixed-method to approach this problem. The initial qualitative phase included focus group interviews and, the second quantitative phase consisted of an online self-administered questionnaire. The garment elements explored included three main categories namely textiles (fibre content and fabrication), design (necklines and collars, sleeve and sleeve finishes, waistline finishes, closures, wearing ease, and decorative trimmings) and construction (seam type, seam class and type of labelling). It was important to include both parents of children with sensory overreactivity and qualified occupational therapists in phase 1 and solely parents in phase 2. Due to the explorative nature of the study, convenience sampling, purposive sampling, snowball sampling, and quota sampling was employed in gathering 10 participants for the virtual focus group discussions and 106 respondents for the online questionnaire. The data collected in the qualitative phase (phase 1) was implemented in the development of the measuring instrument used in the quantitative phase (phase 2). Data analysis in phase 1 consisted of content analysis and in phase 2, only descriptive statistics due to the exploratory nature of this study. The findings of this study indicate that school uniforms indeed contribute to sensory overreactivity which may influence children’s quality of life detrimentally. Most influential garment elements include fibre content, rough textures, seam types, collars, long-sleeved garments, embroidery, and labelling. Adaptation guidelines were developed for parents of children with sensory overreactivity, which may also be utilised by occupational therapists. In addition, guidelines for schools, retailers offering school clothing, and manufacturers of school garments were also developed.

This study provides a vast contribution to new knowledge which may be used to enhance the lives of children with sensory overreactivity, as well as parents, occupational therapists and teachers who work with children with sensitivities. It may furthermore benefit sensory scientists, researchers in the field of textiles and clothing and consumer scientists.