GOOD NEWS: Barber Earns Autistic Boy’s Trust For Years To Cut His Hair


When Jordie Rowland first came to Lisa Ann McKenzie’s barber shop, she says it was a “disaster.” Jordie has autism and like a lot of other kids who have it, the stimulation of a haircut was terrifying to him, so he ran out of the shop. But his parents brought him back and McKenzie kept working with the boy, having the nonverbal child come into the Brisbane, Australia shop at closing time every two weeks so he could get used to her.

At first, McKenzie would only get a few snips in before Jordie would become agitated, but she stuck with it for two years, determined to give him a proper haircut. She even went to his house to see if it helped. And then a few weeks ago, the barber sang “The Wheels on the Bus” to the 12-year-old and they had a breakthrough.

She was just trying to calm him and it really worked. For the first time ever, Jordie sat still and let McKenzie give him a full haircut. Mom, dad, and barber were in tears as they realized their slow effort paid off. Now word has gotten out that she’s good with special needs kids and she has around 100 as customers.

“Maybe the reason is to do something like this,” McKenzie says. “To increase understanding for these kids.”

Source: Washington Post


Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content