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Private haircuts trim away fear for those with special needs

Daily Item - 12/23/2019

Dec. 23--MILTON -- There was a time it was almost impossible for a Adam DeTato's son to get his hair cut.

Oliver DeTato would scream and cry if someone came near him with an electric razor.

"When he started with me, he sat in the corner and cried," said Erin Demcher, of Danville, whose company, Autism and Behavior Resources has been helping those with special needs get haircuts. "He would only let us use scissors."

DeTato, of Montoursville, said it took three visits before his son was comfortable with the electric trimmer. On Sunday, barber Russell Greene gave Oliver a fade.

Oliver, who is 7, was one of eight individuals with special needs who were brought to Against the Grain Barbershop on Sunday for private haircuts. The barbershop was closed to the public and each client with special needs had an appointment. If it was the child's first haircut through Autism and Behavior Resources, the parents filled out a survey to help Demcher know information such as the child's likes and dislikes, whether they are affected by music or bright lights, so the atmosphere could be adjusted accordingly.

"It's awesome, and the families could smile," said Demcher, a board certified behavior analyst who works with individuals with special needs and their families and provides training to schools, daycares, first responders and businesses on how to interact with kids with special needs.

Caretaker Milagros Monserrat of Shared Support in Sunbury, with help from her fiance, Joshua Tebar, who also works for the agency, brought Sam Colby, who is in his late 20s, for his first haircut through the program.

"This is the first time I heard about it," Monserrat said. "Normally, the staff would cut his hair. A barber came to the house previously. He lives in his own house. It's fully staffed."

Demcher said it would be too upsetting for Sam or many others with special needs such as autism or cerebral palsy to go to a barbershop when other customers were there. The private haircuts allow them to adjust.

Demcher has been hosting the haircuts for about eight months, the first couple were held at the Miller Center in Lewisburg. The rest have been at Against the Grain.

She said parents prepay $20 for the haircuts, which is split between her company and the barber.

Greene, a Watsontown resident, said being able to give the haircuts for those with special needs touches him. And he has learned from it.

"It's really teaching me patience," he said.

While Oliver was crying when he first came into the shop, Demcher calmed him and sat him on a stool in the middle of the room. She said he was not quite ready for the barber chair, but perhaps on the next visit he would be. It also helped that Demcher interacted with Oliver, as she does with others, while they are getting a haircut. She was feeding tiny pieces of chocolate to Oliver as he progressed through his haircut.

She and Oliver also played. As they sat on stools across from each other making eye contact, each repeated simultaneously, "Bah-bah-bah-bah" or growled and laughed as Greene went for a comb and a spray bottle. Oliver became quiet, though, as Greene squirted water on his hair and combed it.

Sam remained in his wheelchair for most of his haircut, at times chewing on his blanket. Demcher and Monserrat lifted him up into the barber chair for part of the haircut. Later, back in his wheelchair, when Greene was about to shave his face with an electric razor, Demcher thought that might be upsetting to him. She knew, though, that "Law & Order" was one of his favorite TV shows, so she played the show's theme music and showed Sam the show logo on her phone as Greene shaved him.

Sam not only was calm, he also smiled.

Greene said he hoped more people would find out about the service that helps those with special needs.

"Even if they don't need a haircut, we want them to come once a month to get used to it," Demcher said.

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