For Patrick Boyne from Cincinnati, getting a simple haircut can be an ordeal. Living with autism, he can find the noise and physical touch of a hairdresser extremely uncomfortable, leading to meltdowns.
But luckily for Patrick and his family, they found one hairdresser that would not give up on him.
Speaking to local media, Patrick's mother, Amy Boyne, recalled how difficult it was to get Patrick to sit still during a haircut:
“He couldn't sit still in the chair. He didn't like the scissors. He didn't like the contact. He didn't like the noise,” she recalled. “Keeping him in the seat, I actually had to hold him down, and my husband had to help.”
But luckily, Sarah Beiser Eaton, the super hairdresser, was with him every step of the way.
“It’s much better now,” Eaton said. “It used to be really hard. He moved around a lot. Mum helped. We would hold him down.”
With lots of patience from Eaton, Patrick now sit quitely while getting his regular trim.
Boyne completely credits Eaton with making one aspect of their lives easier.
Eaton says that she doesn't exactly know how Patrick came to trust her so much.
“I love kids,” she said. “I’m kind of quiet, and I think that helps instead of being overbearing and instead of being louder than them.”
Eaton also services other adults and children with disabilities and autism. She says that she loves serving customers with different needs:
“I think it’s just the love for the kids. The love for the kids who need it. You bend yourself to them."
Boyne said that as Patrick gets older, it becomes more imperative to keep the little things in check:
“It makes his appearance better. He looks better. He feels better. As he gets older, and the disability becomes more apparent, it’s those little things that kind of make a big difference.”
While getting a haircut can seem small to most families, for families of children with autism it can be a huge struggle. The Boyne family are blessed to have someone as kind and caring as Eaton in their lives.
