For those with sensory issues, ‘fitting in’ at school can be a huge challenge

This story is from The Pulse, a weekly health and science podcast.

Find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

When comedian Rebecca Kaplan was a kid, she wore soft, baggy velour pants to school every day. This was not a fashion statement — her pants were nothing at all like the classic pink Juicy Couture tracksuits from the early 2000s.

Kaplan described them as more like something your grandmother would wear.

Kaplan has autism spectrum disorder, and she experiences sensory differences. Some people with ASD may be over-sensitive or under-sensitive to specific sights, sounds, smells or textures, and exposure to such stimuli can sometimes cause distress or discomfort. So for Kaplan, those loose-fitting velour pants were a godsend. They didn’t make her skin crawl, as other tight and rugged fabrics did.

But as Kaplan was getting ready to start high school, she really wanted to fit in at school and look like the other kids. Producer Nichole Currie shares the story of Kaplan’s mission to make that happen: the purchase of her first pair of jeans. Listen to the audio story above.