When my son Kieran was in preschool and able to dress himself, he chose to wear his cotton knit pajamas (long underwear type) under his clothes for much of the year. I assumed this was a sensory thing and did not give it much thought. Recently, however, it occurred to me that it might have as much to do with temperature regulation as with touch sensitivity. Kieran seems to wear more clothing than most people in cold weather and less in hot. This realization sent me on a dive into the internet where, indeed, I found a number of articles indicating that Autism can be related to challenges in thermal regulation. As if there aren’t enough other challenges out there! 

Under or overdressing for the weather is probably one of those things that most caregivers take in stride as one of the quirks of our loved ones. We may not fully realize that it is physiological – our folks may actually experience changes in their core body temperature due to changes in outside temperature. Hypersensitivity to temperature may mean a person is cold and feeling stressed by it in environments where we are perfectly comfortable. Likewise, they may be easily overheated and need to be encouraged to hydrate.