Archive for November, 2011

Picking out Christmas and holiday gifts for children  with autism can be a challenge.  Fortunately, we have lots of fun toys and games that are also educational. Here are ten of our  favorite gift ideas that also help teach social skills for all of the friends and grandparents who need some Christmas gift inspiration.

The Berenstain Bears Learn to Share

A great gift for a preschooler or young child with autism is the Berenstain Bears Learn to Share game.  This game teaches that negative behaviors have negative effects and that positive behaviors have positive effects.  An added plus is the cute bears are fun to play with.

Playtime with Zeebu

Another wonderful gift for a child with autism is the Playtime with Zeebu set.  This set comes with a video and two puppets so that parents and children can roll play with the puppets different social scenarios.  Young children with beginning social skills will learn how to share, think about others’ feelings, simple ways to calm down and so much more!  This wonderful set was designed by a parent for parents and would make a wonderful gift.  There are also fun Zeebu coloring books available that help to teach calming strategies and social skills.

The Blunders Game

The Blunders Game teaches essential manners and social skills for grade school children, and works well with higher functioning children on the autism spectrum.  The nice thing about this game is that the “blunder kids” are the ones who make mistakes.  It’s a safe way to learn social skills and talk about social blunders without feeling embarrassed or ashamed.  Best of all this game is fun and would make a great gift for the whole family.

Charades

Charades is a classic game that is fun to play with children and teens on the autism spectrum.  This game is helpful for teaching nonverbal communication.  You have to watch a person closely to figure out what they are trying to communicate.  This will make a great gift that can also help children work on nonverbal social cues.

Know the Code

The Know the Code Set will help children with high functioning autism learn the unwritten social codes of school for social success.  A helpful video, instructional guide and fun card game will help family members teach kids basic social rules to help them fit in with their peers.  This is a great gift for a parent or teacher who works with children on the autism spectrum.

Feelings Listening Lotto

Children with autism often can’t tell the difference between simple emotions.  For example, they cannot tell if a person is feeling happy, sad or angry.  A gift that will help children with autism explore emotions while having fun is the Feelings Listening Lotto game.  Children will have fun as they learn about the following emotions: angry, bored, disgusted, excited, happy, pouting, sad, scarred, shocked, silly, thinking, tired, in trouble, and worried.  For very young learners a simpler way to explore emotions is the How Do You Feel puzzle.

Moody Bear Set

The simple Moody Bear Set is a good gift or Christmas stocking stuffer that helps young children with autism explore basic emotions which are so important for social success.

Guess How I Feel Game

This fun game helps children with autism develop skills in self-expression and empathy, and have fun getting to know the other players around them through roll playing and drawing.

Social Skills for Small Groups Play Pack

The Social Skills for Small Groups Play Pack is a deck of cards with 15 different fun games to help your child with autism learn simple social skills.  Each game comes with instructions, and the games in this play pack can be used with children ages 3-12.  This makes a great Christmas gift or stocking stuffer.  A Social Skills for Large Group Play Pack is also available.

Create a Face Pad

It’s fun to explore emotions with this large over sized pad and best of all it’s only $5.00!

Did you know gentle vibration can be extremely calming and soothing for people on the autism spectrum?  A simple vibration toy or product can calm and sooth an autistic person who is feeling overwhelmed or in the middle of a melt down.  They can also sooth an autistic person who is feeling anxious.  Sometimes parents and therapists will give a child with autism a vibrating toy to help with a situation that usually causes a melt down to help keep the person clam during the stressful situation.  While some vibration furniture can run into thousands of dollars here are a few vibrating toys and items for people on the autism spectrum that won’t break the bank!   Vibration products make great gifts for people with autism, Asperger’s or PDD-NOS.

Vibrating Mats

There are a variety of vibrating mats and massage mats out there.  Some also include heat.  When looking at a massage mat make sure that it is a vibrating mat and not the shiatsu style massage.  The shiatsu style mats have hard rolling balls built into the mats.  While some may enjoy this type of massage, for many it is not calming and for some may feel painful.  A favorite mat we recommend is the Vibramat.  This mat is very durable and versatile.  You can place a bean bag chair on top of it for an instant massage chair.  You can stand on it or lie on it and it will automatically shut off after four hours.

Vibrating Pillow

Vibrating pillows are often nice options for the home or classroom.  Some have switches and some are pressure activated.  If you are working with a child who is particularly self injurious it’s best to try and find a pressure activated pillows with no outside switches or hardware that could potentially scratch or harm the autistic person when in the middle of a melt down.  Again remember to avoid the shiatsu style pillows.

Vibrating Toys

Fortunately there are a wide variety of vibration toys to choose from.  Often you can find these toys in the baby section of a store.  Many of these toys are soft, plush toys that are activated by pulling a string.  A favorite massage toy we recommend is a vibrating dinosaur egg.  This egg is small and easy to carry and it doesn’t look like a baby toy so it looks more socially appropriate for children and teens.

Hand Held Massagers & Mini Massage 

There are a variety of hand held massagers and mini massage items you can buy online.  The large variety of styles and shapes make it easy to find something in a favorite color or style, best of all most of these units only cost between $6.00 – $35.00 so they won’t break the bank.  You can even find animal massagers that are fun and engaging for children.

Vibrating Mitt

A newer vibration product that is working well for parents and therapists is the vibrating mitt.  This soft mitt features a soft sheep skin cover.  To use it just place the mitt anywhere on someones body and push down for instant on the spot massage.  This device is pressure activated so there is no on and off switch to worry about.  Also, because it is pressure activated it conserves battery life.

Vibrating Snake

Finally believe it or not, flexible vibrating tubes or “vibrating snakes” are also very calming and work well with people on the autism spectrum.  These flexible tubes can be positioned almost anywhere on the body to provide soothing vibration.  They work well when someone is sitting or laying down too.  The soft rubber cover of these tubes make them a good choice for someone who is agitated.