Blow-dry hair
The hairdryer sounds like a small storm right by the ear, blows hot air at the scalp and buzzes in the hand: three strong impressions at once. When the child knows what's coming, the noise gets easier to bear. See the steps below.
♀Blow-dry hair
Person blow-drying their hair with a hairdryer
About this visual support
The hairdryer is a sensory double hit. The sound roars right by the ear while hot air strikes the scalp and the vibration travels through the head. For a child who already reacts strongly to sound, the combination easily becomes unbearable, and every drying session turns into a battle both sides would rather avoid.
Visual support helps by removing the element of surprise. When the child has seen the pictures towel dry, switch on the dryer and dry a little at a time in advance, the body knows what to prepare for. What's expected frightens less than what comes suddenly, and the drying itself can be split into short bursts with breaks between rather than one long strain.
A concrete tip is to let the child hold the dryer or steer where the air points, as far as that works. When the moving hand is the child's own, the noise and heat feel less alarming, because the brain knows what the next second holds.
To make the end of the evening hair routine more predictable, you can add the drying as a fixed step in the Routined app, so it always comes in the same place.