What we wear helps us participate.

Dressing is personal, practical, social, and connected to opportunity. Brooks helps students develop the access, skills, confidence, and judgment to choose clothing that works for their bodies and fits the life they want to live.

Adaptive by design

Clothing should open doors—not create barriers.

Buttons, zippers, laces, waistbands, fabric textures, body proportions, braces, mobility equipment, and medical access can make ordinary clothing difficult or impossible to use. Brooks is working to make coordinated adaptive uniform choices available so students do not have to choose between access, comfort, and looking put together.

Brooks clothing options include soft, tagless logo shirts; adaptive polos; khaki and navy pants; elastic-waist choices; easy fasteners; and open pant legs that accommodate braces, shoes, dressing routines, and wheelchair positioning. Families may also use outside adaptive clothing that meets the Brooks dress code.

More than getting dressed

Dressing and grooming are life skills.

Instruction is individualized, respectful, and practiced in real routines.

Build independence

Students may practice choosing clothing, orienting garments, dressing and undressing, pulling clothing up and down, managing fasteners, changing after spills or accidents, and caring for personal clothing.

Support grooming

Hair care, face washing, toothbrushing, deodorant, clean clothing, and personal presentation are taught as routines that support health, comfort, dignity, and participation.

Develop choice and style

Students make choices about color, fit, texture, and style. The goal is not sameness. The goal is to help each student express a personal style while learning how clothing choices relate to different settings.

Expand tolerance and options

Students can gradually experience different fabrics, collars, waistbands, fasteners, shoes, layers, and styles. Exposure is paced respectfully, with adaptive alternatives and regulation supports—not forced through distress.

Learn what clothing communicates

A person’s worth is never determined by clothing. Still, clothing and grooming affect first impressions. Students deserve direct teaching about how an outfit may communicate readiness, professionalism, celebration, recreation, or relaxation.

Prepare for adult life

Jobs, interviews, volunteer roles, community activities, teams, and special events may have dress expectations. Students practice identifying the setting and choosing an accessible outfit that helps them look and feel ready for the role.

Some students may begin with the softest, simplest clothing they can comfortably tolerate. From there, Brooks can teach one step at a time: a new fabric, a looser collar, an easy fastener, a polo, work-style pants, different shoes, or an outfit for a particular community experience.

The destination is not one “correct” look. It is a broader range of workable choices and the ability to make informed decisions. A student may prefer casual clothing and still learn what is expected for an interview. Another may love formal clothing but need adaptive access. Both students deserve style, choice, and preparation.

Appearance should not be an afterthought

Research and lived experience show that inaccessible clothing can limit community participation, while fit, fashion, cleanliness, and grooming influence how other people respond. Brooks addresses both sides: changing the clothing so it works for the student, and teaching the student how to use clothing and grooming to communicate who they are and what they are ready to do.

What informed this approach

Research on access, participation, and perception.

Apparel Causes Additional BarriersHow mechanical, sensory, fit, and cultural barriers in clothing can restrict community participation.Read the article ↗Clothing and ParticipationA research framework examining clothing’s influence on daily activity, social roles, and participation for people with physical disabilities.Read at PubMed Central ↗Clothing, Grooming, and PerceptionA caregiver study examining how clothing and grooming can influence other people’s perceptions of individuals with severe and profound intellectual disabilities.View at PubMed ↗

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