Something Social

A hallmark of people on the autism spectrum is difficulty with social interactions.  Giving a gift that promotes social skills is a wonderful Hanukkah gift.

• Playtime with Zeebu: This new expanded video modeling set includes a video that covers lots of social situations and two puppets: Zeebu and Neek.  This is a wonderful opportunity for a child to explore and practice social skills in a fun way with the puppets.
• The Blunders Game is a fun family game that teaches manners and social skills for grade school children and works well with higher functioning children with autism or Asperger’s Syndrome.  This is a fun way to learn social skills and talk about social blunders without feeling embarrassed or ashamed because the blunders kids are the ones who make mistakes.
• Cause and Effect toys can provide simple, interactions for people with very limited social abilities.  These toys promote simple communication between parents and their child, help hand eye coordination, and offer sensory exploration.

Something Visual

Did you know many children and teens with autism or Asperger’s Syndrome are very visual?

• Interesting visual toys with spinning or flashing lights are usually a big hit.
• Liquid timers are interesting to look at and can also help people wait.
• A Hoberman Sphere, Light up lamp or Disco Balls can be very enjoyable especially for older kids and teens.

Something Calming

The world can be very stressful for people on the autism spectrum.  Calming items can be very enjoyable and help stop a meltdown before they happen.

• Good vibrations: Simple vibration can be very soothing.  Vibrating toys, mats, massage mitts, or pillows can be very calming and enjoyable.  Note if looking at massage items, which are great, make sure they are vibrating and not the shiatsu style massage.
• Weighted Items: Deep pressure can calm and relax someone when they are stressed or over stimulated.  Weighted vests, neck wraps or blankets are wonderful gifts that may be too expensive for some families on a tight budget.

Three Small Gifts for a limited Budget

Want to send something small that says you care?  Our top three small gifts are the liquid timer, Isoflex Ball and Mini Light Spinner.

Happy Hanukkah!

Did you know that many children and teens on the autism spectrum love visually interesting items?  So here are some proven popular items, to give you some gift inspiration to help make your shopping easy.

Plasma Light

Our Silver Plasma Light is a consistent favorite for people who are highly visual.  Everyone loves to touch the ball and watch the lights gravitate towards their fingertips. This is a great visual toy that also teaches cause and effect and can provide instant positive reinforcement!

Volcano Lamp

The soothing volcano lamp is a calming visual item great for a gift, desk top toy, night light or quiet area.  Fill it with water and watch red balls shoot out of the volcano and fall gently down the sides.  A true visual delight!

Hoberman Sphere

Kids love to pull the Hoberman Sphere and watch it expand from 5 inches to 12 inches in diameter. Push any hub and watch it contract! This fun toy comes assembled with game ideas and instructions.

Disco Ball

Now you can create a rainbow of lights that will dance around any room with our Disco Ball.  The ball rotates a full 360 degrees and flashes blue, yellow, red, green and orange.

Rain Tube

The rain tube is a both soothing to watch and listen to.  Kids and teens love to turn the tube over and watch multi-color and silver beads cascade through the tube while they listen to the soothing sound of rain.

Light Up Twirler

Just pull the trigger and watch the airplanes light up and fly in circles!

Mini Light Spinner

This small item makes a great stocking gift.  Press a button and watch a spinning light show that changes as you hold down the button.  This comes attached to a break-away necklace making an instant calming gift while traveling or on the go.

Rail Twirler

Rail twirlers are always fun this one lights up while you play with it and comes with a magnetic light up wheel that “sticks” to the 10-1/2” rail.  The magnet makes it easy to be successful and keeps frustration to a minimum!

Light Up Helicopter Candy Pop Fan

A candy pop that lights up and spins, need we say more?  Super fun and reinforcing for highly visual children.  If you like this item, you might also want to check out our flashing Skittles Light Up Wand!

Liquid Timers

We have several liquid timers that are calm and soothing to watch and are a proven hit with highly visual teens and children.

Do you have a highly visual gift that you would recommend for an autistic child or teen?  We are always on the lookout for great gift ideas, please share!

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.

Fidget toys-we love them. Fidget toys can help relieve stress and increase focus and attention. More and more teachers are reporting that learners focus better and retain more information if they have something to do with their hands. Good fidgets should feel interesting, provide movement for the fingers, be durable and not distract others. The following is a list of our five favorite fidget toys.

 The Tangle Relax

This is by far our favorite fidget toy.  The Tangle Relax features twistable rubberized Tangle pieces with a bumpy rubberized cover. It’s durable, quiet, and people love the way they feel. It’s big enough to break in half to make two smaller sized fidgets.  A larger size version of this is the Tangle Therapy; this fidget toy is a little more expensive but also fantastic.

Nubby Stretch & Bounce Ball

The Nubby Stretch and Bounce Ball has a bumpy soft cover and is filled with a foam putty a student can quietly stretch and shape. The unique texture is soft and stimulating. This fidget toy is particularly nice for kids who need to squeeze something. However, for someone who is particularly aggressive with their squeezing you may want to try an  Isoflex ball.

Large Porcupine Ball

The Large Porcupine Balls is about 3 1/4″ in diameter. These balls feel interesting, provide lots of movement and exploration for the fingers, are quiet, and the threads on these are thicker than a Koosh ball. They are very sturdy and as an added bonus they’re fun to throw and easy to catch!

The Tactile Atom Ball

The Tactile Atom Ball has long tentacle like arms that stick out from the center that are soft and squishy. The tentacles are bumpy and knobby making it very interesting to hold and touch. This fidget toy is fairly sturdy, but if you have a student who is particularly aggressive we would not recommend it.

Stretchy Frogs

What can we say; Stretchy Frogs have been around forever! They are small, stretchy, and very inexpensive making them a nice option for teachers.  They are great for students who move from class to class because you can easily put them in a pocket.

A fun and simple oral motor activity that kids love is a bubble factory.  All you need to make it is a straw and a clean empty yogurt cup.

 To make it cut two holes in the top of a yogurt cup:

Cut a small hole on the top of the lid and a larger hole on the bottom. Fill the yogurt cup half full of bubble mix. Insert a straw in the small hole and let the child blow bubbles. If you are worried about the child sucking up the bubble mixture, cut a hole in the straw about one inch down. This will keep them from sucking up the bubbles.

Traveling with a special needs child can be a challenge.  Lot’s of rest, good snacks and special items to keep a child busy can really help.  Here is a list of our best travel toys for those with autism:

Wikki Stix Activity Set:

Wikki Stixs are bendable, colorful yarn that sticks to a surface with just fingertip pressure.  These provide an interesting tactile experience and also help fine motor skills. Children can make all kinds of art projects with no glue or mess.  Fun Activity Kit includes: 96 Wikki Stix, Wooden shapes, Feathers, Pompoms, 4 blank faces that are great for exploring emotions, 2 greeting cards, Do-Wikki Gam,e Wikkidoodle sheets, a Travel Fun Book and more!  The activity set comes in a convenient carrying case.

Knobby Teether Ball:

This is a teether ball that a child can hold and chew on. Many teachers use these during circle time to help kids sit who also need to chew.   These are nice for airplane and car rides, particularly if your child is prone to chew on things.

Mini Light Spinner:

It’s easy to keep track of the mini light spinner because it has a break away necklace.  Visually mesmerizing a child can  wear it and watch the lights spin and flicker.

Tangle Jr:

Tangles are great for keeping hands busy on trips in the car, on a plane or anytime. The Tangle Jr. has  18 interconnected pieces that a child can quietly twist keeping their fingers quietly moving. Tangles are a great manipulative toy that stimulates the brain as it helps increase finger dexterity.

Let’s Make Faces Book:

This spiral bound book is designed to be drawn in.  Kids can draw in faces, wipe them clean, and then draw them again! A wonderful tool for exploring emotions and easy to travel with.