Internal and external information can be overwhelming for anyone to cope with. Body temperature fluctuations that can come on quickly can make you feel like you need to remove clothing to cool yourself down. We live and work in worlds where there can be air conditioning present across a lot of our environments, yet in others there is nothing for a hot day other than a need to learn what type of clothing design, material type and how many layers are required. Do you tolerate shoes and socks or is your home one where everyones shoes come off the second you walk in the door? Do you prefer to wear ugg boots at home or are you someone that likes wearing them out in the shops? Are you able to tolerate shoes of different heights or positions of clasps or do your feet only cope with certain types of shoes? How long can you tolerate wearing them for? We all need to learn this about our bodies, yet some environments (e.g. school or specific types of work locations) require that we we certain types of shoes e.g. steel cap (think of the weight of these on your body) or closed toe shoes (for those that prefer the ventilation of sandals because of body odour). Does your school require you to wear a tie? Do you struggle with collared shirts because of a difference in the thickness of your neck as compared to the rest of your upper body. Think of the impact of different sports and their uniforms. Of different sports and their differences in how personal space is used. Rugby vs tennis. Swimming versus water polo. Each activity can have subtle variations on location, type etc which can allow someone to engage without being overwhelmed.
How does your shower work? What shampoo do you use? Why do we have so many different varieties with so many different touted ‘benefits’ to them? Are you someone that needs a long shower or do you live somewhere where water is limited or where you are yelled at for being in the shower too long because others need to use it or you are yelled at for being in there too long because the rest of the household needs to move on to the next part of their routines for the day and you are holding them up. Which type of hair brush do you use? How many varieties of hair brushes have you tried in the past? These are personal questions yet in the shops the varieties are visible. How do you cope managing your hair, its weight, its length? Do you prefer it at a certain weight because its easier for you to manage because its hard for you to keep it tidy with your ‘type’ of hair? Are you frustrated because your hands won’t work to put it up or to brush it straight? Is it a competition with others how their hair looks at school so its just easier to have short hair and not need to deal with it.
How do you sleep at night? Do you have the windows open for ventilation so that regardless of how many doonas you have on you still get the pressure but can cope with the heat of all those doonas because you’ve change the overall room temperature. Do you kick everything off in bed? Do you need another person with you to fall asleep because your body and mind are having difficulty turning off and the physical and emotional comfort of having someone with you makes it less scary because you don’t understand why you can’t fall asleep because you ‘are’ trying.
How much of your day do you spend sitting down because that is the age bracket that you fall into. Are you retired so you don’t spend the time now driving to and from work and sitting at a desk. Are you a preschooler who gets a balance of sitting down tasks and running around with more freedom of choice versus a school student who sits for extended periods of time. What is an appropriate amount of time to be seated for? Does your school offer playground equipment for you to move around on during breaks or is your school one where class numbers are so high that everyone is tightly packed in on tables leaving little room for personal space other than to keep very still.
Design matters.