Hair Care

[penn_adhd]

Is it an ADHD thing for kids to not care if their hair is combed or do all kids go through this phrase in 5th grade? To just say other kids look worse, etc.? Mine is 10 now and his hair often goes uncombed (it's past his shoulders) or looks oily because he either doesn't wash or rinse it well enough (too quick and it is very thick and he argues and argues he did it right) and now he's hit puberty.

[Lanego]

I’ve always assumed it was just kids. Both my son and daughter soon to be 12 years old and both with ADHD don’t brush their hair unless reminded. I keep a brush in our cars and in the kitchen to help.

[penn_adhd in reply to Lanego]

Even when I remind him he argues or completely ignores me.

[Amethyst222]

Mine is in 4th grade, and I feel like he might finnnnnallly be starting to care a teensy bit about what his hair looks like....just a little (as in, that it's not sticking up in a goofy way because he slept on it weird). But all his life prior, he preferred it as messy and gnarly as possible, and would not look in a mirror unless to examine some part of his face up close because it's interesting! He does still get mad when I try to help him fix his hair though, and taking showers is still a fight...

[wiroots]

My son didn't care much about his appearance until 13 or so. At 14 he still regularly forgets to shampoo his hair in the shower. Drives me crazy.

[RandomNames43]

Our son is 8 and he almost never combs his hair unless we make him. Sometimes I just throw a hat on him and send him out the door.

[Rajnandhini]

Unfortunately, grooming and hygiene issues, to either extreme, is fairly neurotypical behavior…I’m not sure that it’s any worse for children with ADHD. IMHO and personal experience, it’s not.