HAIRCUTS AND HAIR CARE

ATHENA SEILER

Hair Specialist

Athena is a bright and bubbly hairdresser who is passionate about helping children. Athena has been hairdressing for over 30 years. Her strengths lay within her patience, enthusiastic energy, and creativity to adapt the way she cuts and styles hair to meet the individual needs of each child.

Athena is a mobile hairdresser and will come to you! But most of all, Athena makes haircuts FUN!

Please know Athena is an independent hair specialist, and an entirely separate service from Making A Difference OT. We just like to advertise her because she's awesome!

HAIRCUTS

Children and young people with additional needs can often find having their hair cut extremely distressing because of their sensory processing challenges. At Making A Difference Occupational Therapy, our hair specialist, Athena, takes pride in understanding these challenges and helping you to achieve safe and successful sensory haircuts with ease.

Your little one is always more comfortable in their own surroundings, so Athena will come to you (please see below for a map of our servicing areas)!

Meeting your child’s needs may mean we need to be a little bit creative! We can be extremely flexible, and if needed we can:

Provide your child with sensory / movement breaks throughout
Cut hair without clippers (the sound and vibration can be so overwhelming sometimes)
Cut inside the house or in the front/back yard
Provide the salon chair OR we can even cut without the chair if your child has a seating preference (e.g., floor, cushion, or even standing, etc). You name it, we can do it.
Provide the salon cape (we also have the option of providing a cape with arms so your little one doesn’t feel so restricted) OR maybe your child has a favourite blanket, towel, superhero cape they’d rather use.
No blow dryer necessary!
Your child can have full control over our neck brush and can be in charge of brushing away all of those little neck hairs.

It may take some time for your child to be accepting and to build rapport, and that’s okay! We also understand that we all have good days and challenging days. Haircuts are not meant to be traumatic, that’s why we will never force your child to continue. If your little one is having a challenging day, and we get half-way through the haircut and we simply can’t continue, that’s okay! These things happen and we will try again next time. In fact, in these situations, you won’t even be charged for the haircut, only travel expenses will need to be covered. In these times, please remember, THIS IS NOT A FAILURE – we got there, we were able to start the haircut, that’s still a success!

HEADLICE TREATMENT

Unfortunately it happens to us all, and the removal is definitely not a fun process, especially for our little ones with additional needs. But have no fear, we are here help!

Every egg needs to be removed otherwise they’ll continue to invade your personal space.

Option 1: Lice Breaker Comb (This usually only needs to happen once. It also seems to be the most effective, but also the most time consuming and uncomfortable)

Option 2: Foam Removal (This may require a few treatments. But it also seems to be the most tolerable option!)

*Yes – Haircuts can still be provided if your child has head lice, however a cleaning fee of $20 will be added for the time it takes to sterilise the equipment. We will also provide you with all of our tips and tricks as well as product recommendations to help keep them away for good!

DAYS OF OPERATION

Athena is available to cut your little one’s hair on Mondays and Tuesdays (before and after school appointments are also available).

To book in your child's hair appointment, simply contact us via phone: 0434 138 006 or email us at: admin@makingadifferenceot.com.au

FEE'S

Child’s hair cut = $40.00 (hourly rate). Hair cuts exceeding 1 hour will be charged in 15 minute increments (that means if it takes longer than 1 hour, it's only $10 per additional 15-minutes. You will be notified at the hour mark if more time is required).

*Haircuts can still be done if your child has head lice however a cleaning fee of $20.00 will be added for the time it takes to sterilise the equipment.

Head Lice Treatment = Starting at $140.00

*Travel fee's are an additional cost.

HAIR CARE TRAVEL FEE'S

Athena is based in Loganholme. The prices listed are total return travel times (to and from inclusive). Therefore, if you live 30-minutes away, you will be charged 60-minutes travel (to and from).

Return Travel Times:

0 - 10mins = $5

11 - 20 mins = $10

21 - 30 mins = $20

31 - 45 mins = $30

46 - 60 mins = $40

PAYMENT METHOD

CASH ONLY - For ease of service, please try to have the correct cash ready as we may not be able to provide the correct change.

We look forward to providing digital payment options soon!

ENQUIRE TODAY:

Enquire and book today via the following options:

Enquire via our website Contact Us form here
Email us on: admin@makingadifferenceot.com.au
Call us on: 0434 138 006
Or talk to your therapist in your next session!
Or scroll through our Frequently Asked Questions below.

F.A.Q'S

WHAT AREAS DO YOU SERVICE?

This map shows a rough estimate of our regular areas. If this map does not cover your location, please don’t hesitate to contact us and enquire – we may still be able to cater to your needs or discuss an alternate location.

HOW LONG WILL THE HAIR CUT TAKE?

We usually allow for an hour, though every child is different. This time will allow for some rapport building, a social story if required, desensitisation, preparation time, and the hair cut.

*Hair cuts exceeding 1 hour are charged in 15-minute increments (that means it's only $10 per additional 15-minutes if more than 1-hour is required). You will be notified when the hour is up and asked if you'd like to continue at $10 per additional 15-minutes.

CAN MUM/DAD GET THEIR HAIR CUT TOO?

Yes, however these are called “fringe trims”. This haircut is purely for the child’s benefit. Sometimes it’s helpful for the little ones to see their parents get their haircut first to relieve some anxiety or worries etc. If this service is needed, please call to let us know to allow time for this and to discuss prices.

WHAT IS THE MINIMUM AGE FOR A CHILD HAIR CUT?

Any age! We can cut any child's hair aged from 0 - 18 years. If they need a hair cut then we will cut it!

WILL MY NDIS FUNDING COVER THE HAIR SERVICE?

Unfortunately not. The NDIS will not cover this service, and therefore will need to be paid out of pocket.

WILL MY OT BE AT MY CHILD'S HAIR APPOINTMENT?

No - it is not required for your occupational therapist to attend your child's hair appointment. If your child has significant needs and you or your therapist think it would be more beneficial to combine these services, please let us know so we can arrange this as required! *Please note, in these situations, occupational therapy fee's will be charged on top of your hair cut fee's.

WILL MY CHILD'S FEAR BE FIXED ON THE FIRST VISIT?

Although this is possible, it is HIGHLY unlikely. In fact, your first visit may be fairly similar to what you've experienced in the past, except this time it's in the comfort of your own home and easier to manage. It's going to take time for your child to become comfortable with their hair specialist, and it's going to take time for your hair specialist to completely understand all of your individual hair care needs. You may even need to trial and error a few different strategies and approaches before you find the right one for your child! It can take approximately 1-3 visits before you see a noticeable difference in the way your child responds to hair cuts.

WHAT TO EXPECT ON YOUR FIRST VISIT?

We won't fuss too much on the first visit. We will gain a lot of information from your child and your environment. We can take the time to read a social story about hair cuts or have a chat about the process, but sometimes the best approach is to not fuss about it much at all! Sometimes, the less we fuss, the less time there is for procrastination and avoidance. The quicker we are able to get started, the quicker we will be able to finish, and the quicker they will be able to return to their preferred activity! However, it all depends on your child and their tolerances and needs, and we will always respect that!

RECOMMENDATIONS

The more haircuts and haircare they are exposed to over time, the easier it becomes. So we highly recommend regularly scheduled haircuts to keep it consistent and create the expectation that we need to cut our hair! Cutting our hair is part of daily life, just like brushing our teeth. It's uncomfortable but it needs to happen.
Desensitisation and sensory regulation by an occupational therapist is always recommended and makes such a big difference to our appointments.
Prepare your child that we are coming. A surprise visit is only going to create more anxiety, so please let them know we are coming to cut their hair!

COULDN'T FIND THE ANSWER YOU WERE LOOKING FOR?

If your question isn’t listed, please don't hesitate to email us at admin@makingadifferenceot.com.au or call on 0434 138 006.