Needs You would now agree that apart from protection, clothing provides an opportunity to the child to develop a sense of autonomy and competence. It communicates impressions of the self to others in the social environment. Sometimes children with disability may have limited physical movement, but they have all the potential for learning and growing. The task of dressing and undressing is very important for children with special needs.
Depending on the nature of disability, some children are able to dress themselves independently. This gives them emotional satisfaction and also a feeling of pride. But if the child is severely disabled or incontinent, she/he is helped by the carer, making the process time consuming and tiresome. Garments for children with special needs are selected according to the type of disability and the associated difficulties.
As comfort is the primary criterion, cotton is the most preferred fabric for summer, and velvet corduroy and cotswool for winter. The garments selected should be strong so as to withstand abrasion in case the children use orthotic devices or wheel chairs. Garments should have reinforcements at specified areas for calipers and braces. Openings should be easily accessible and easy to fasten.
Hence, velcros and zippers with key chains are good choices. Needless to say, garments should be easy to wash. Wearing and taking off should be simple, and so wider necklines, waist belts with elastics, front open plackets and front pockets can be the preferred choices. It’s very important to look at the aesthetic appeal of the clothes.
They should look like clothes for any child, well-stitched yet easy to wear. They should be appealing in colour and print so that the wearer feels good. However, the best garment is the one that is constructed to cater to the individual needs of the wearer and carer. On the whole, this chapter informs us that what children wear, i.e., their apparel, has an important role in their personality development.
The clothes not only must be appealing to the eye and comfortable to wear, but also ecologically and socio-culturally appropriate. With this chapter we conclude the unit on childhood. Having studied adolescence in the first two Units, we now move to adulthood from the next section, i.e., Unit IV. Key terms Apparel, Clothes, Fashion, Clothing need, Childhood stages, Children with special needs.