A Co Antrim barber is using his own experience of caring for his autistic daughter to provide haircuts for children with additional needs.
Jamie McGann, 33, is the owner of Luxe Male Grooming in Carrickfergus, and has now founded Autism Barber NI to give children with additional needs a safe space to get their hair cut.
Due to his experience in caring for his six-year-old daughter Eve, who has non-verbal autism, Jamie said he "knows the struggle first hand" and is happy to bring his expertise into his world of work through barbering.
Moving into his new shop last September, he said it was the perfect time to provide this unique service. Reducing the loud sounds normally associated with a barber shop, and providing a one-to-one service, he hopes can help many young people enjoy their hair cut.
Jamie told Belfast Live : "I'm a parent of a wee girl with autism myself, she's 6 and non-verbal. I know that simple things in life, normal chores that are easy for a mainstream child, can be more difficult for a child with additional needs. I know the struggle first hand. With my understanding of raising Eve, I want to bring it into what I do, which is barbering.
"A lot of my clients are travelling from all over Northern Ireland with their kids as they've now got used to me. We have that bit of trust, bit of a bond with them which is half the battle.
"If their kid comes into a barber shop, they would usually have a meltdown. Other barbers aren't educated in this enough to understand what's going on, and may panic cutting a kid's hair if they're having a meltdown. But I understand what's going on with them and how to help them cope."
If a child comes into his barbershop and begins to have a meltdown, Jamie said he has plenty of techniques he can use to make them calm down and feel comfortable.
He said: "I would maybe bring them over to the sofa area and sit with them, bring out the tablet or my phone, and ask their parents what their favourite cartoons are. I'd get them up and sit and talk away to them.
"I also use silent clippers as normal clippers would be quite noisy and distressing. I would show them what I'm going to be doing, by putting it up the side of my head or testing it on their arm to show them what it feels like. Normally nine times out of ten that's the selling point for them.
"Or I would get them to count down from ten, and we would do the cut in wee chunks like that. It gets them involved in it, I would give them a bit of praise too, and you can see their wee eyes light up.
"They might not get their hair cut on the barber chair, they may sit on the sofa, or their mum's knee. If they don't get there the first time, they will the second."
For Jamie, one of his favourite things about his job is being able to help children with additional needs and their parents. He even said some parents can become quite emotional after their little ones have their first positive experience at the barbers.
Now, he's beginning to train his colleague, Tyler, so he can build up the skills and techniques needed to provide autism-friendly hair cuts too.
"There's a lot of parents who can't believe it, they ask me if I'm a wizard," he added.
"They ask how I'm able to do it when nobody else they've went to has been able to. I don't know what it is, but it works. A lot of them are gobsmacked, and you get the odd parent breaking down in tears because they can't believe it, it's their child's first haircut and they're so overwhelmed by it all.
"That's the moment for me, coming from a parent who understands what it's like, that's the feel-good factor for me. It makes me feel good if I can help another parent out who's in the same position as myself and my wife. If I can do something small that helps in a big way to them, it's a job done."
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