I’m Craig Henderson. I’m a father of four, two of whom are on the pathway to be assessed for autism (we all know how long that takes), and a lot of people in the hair industry and the additional needs community know me as the Neurodivergent Barber. I’m one of the directors of Craig’s Barber Shop (the other director is my wonderful fiancée). I’m the creative one and she’s the brains of the business. The barber shop has great values—we are a gender-neutral and neurodiverse friendly shop. In a nutshell, we serve everyone in the community around us and beyond.
The loud buzz of the clippers, the strong scent of products, the scrape of the comb—all part of getting a haircut. As a hair professional, I feel everyone deserves to look and feel their best. However, a trip to the salon can be overwhelming for people with sensory processing difficulties.
I’ve been working with the additional needs community for more than ten years since I got my own shop, thank you to a family member who invested in me and my fiancée. I have been able to shout from the rooftops that I can accommodate children and young adults with additional needs. I also use the days when my shop is closed to go into the community and visit educational settings, such as a specialist nursery and a secondary schools that works with children and young adults with additional needs. Most of the children have non-verbal autism. I spend my time helping to get them desensitised to the experience of getting their hair cut in a comfortable setting that they feel safe in.
How I approach each haircut is by working on the sensory aspect of the experience for each client. This involves spending time getting them used to the equipment, touching the combs and brushes, feeling the water spray mist and getting familiar with the noise and vibrations of the clippers.
When I perform the haircut, it’s all about being patient, giving them freedom and letting them lead the experience. It can be very sensorily overloading for the client, so I make sure I take time with each client, and I wait when needed, to give time to decompress, as each client has a different way of processing the experience.
I aim to make this stress-free for them, whether this involves me lying on the floor with them, sitting outside or just cutting their hair while they stand up, if it helps the child to build up an understanding of the experience of getting a haircut in this unorthodox way. I just want them to feel that they had a complete experience of getting a haircut without being judged or discriminated against because of their additional needs. Hair salons are part of the community and we should serve the community that includes these amazing human beings.
A parent of one of the children I work with described taking their 4-year-old son to another barber for his first haircut after lockdown as awful and traumatic—but now she knows her son is in calm, respectful hands and it’s a huge relief.
I’ve had the privilege of working with over a hundred children and young adults so far, from all over the north west. Being able to make such a difference to them and their parents or caregivers is amazing. I feel like I’ve achieved something special, making these children look fantastic while helping to build their confidence with hair professionals. The time we have spent together will make it easier for each child, as well as help their parents, not suffer from stress and anxiety that their child is going to be judged, on visits to a salon in the future
Winning the Greater Manchester Integrated Care Champion Award means I’m making all the right steps to help these amazing superheroes.Looking ahead, I have plans to not only keep this scheme up, but I’ve developed hair industry PECS cards, and I would like work on a training program for hair professionals so they can understand and accommodate these fantastic humans with additional needs in their communities.