Dallas barber offers special haircuts for children with sensory sensitivities

Dallas barber gives sensory-friendly haircuts

A Dallas barber who goes the extra mile to help kids who are on the spectrum is catching people's attention online.

DEEP ELLUM, Texas - A Dallas barber who goes the extra mile to help kids who are on the spectrum is catching people's attention online.

FOX 4 got a chance Friday to watch him make a difference, one haircut at a time.

Dallas sensory haircuts

Henry Amolaja

Getting that first haircut can be traumatic for any child. Then add in autism or a disability, and it takes a barber with patience.  

Henry Amolaja has been a barber for 15 years, and he says he started as a college barber, cutting hair in the dorm rooms and the bathrooms.

He cuts hair for anyone and everyone, but his VIPs are children who are autistic or have other disabilities. 

It's called sensory haircuts, and it's a skill he picked up last year. Amolaja started posting his videos on social media, and things took off, gaining hundreds of thousands of views. 

Sensory haircuts free of charge

Sensory haircut box

Amolaja says sensory haircuts take a lot of patience — a virtue he learned first-hand as the father of young kids himself. 

While he will continue to cut hair for adults, fundraising money has allowed him to make sensory cuts for all of his clients free during 2026. 

"I've had families come from Austin, from Houston. I've had families come down to Dallas for the holidays, like for Thanksgiving, and they will make sure they tell their child that it's a sensory-friendly haircut experience," he said.

For now, Amolaja is at a location in Deep Ellum, but hopes to soon own his own shop and also train other barbers to do sensory haircuts.

North Texas families appreciate service

Rochelle Kent saw those videos and inquired. 

"I found he was in Dallas and I went through the process of signing my kids up," she said.

Her 8 and 10-year-old sons are both on the autism spectrum. 

Before finding Amolaja, she says the difficulty of getting a haircut made them rare for her sons, who only got them once or twice a year. 

"It's something they look forward to, and that takes something off of me. I don't have the anxiety when I'm taking them to get a haircut anymore," Kent said.