Check Out Designmom.com Blog

While searching for holiday design ideas (to help my son with autism enjoy the sensory processing work that he needs), I stumbled across this blog: http://www.designmom.com. I hope to learn from her and translate/adapt her ideas and recommendations into design and crafts to do with my son. You may want to learn from her and get inspired to increase your child's tolerance for various textures, smells, lighting, changes in environment, and task sequencing.

HGTV's Mike Holmes & Innovative Accessibility Solutions

Check out the video to see the shower rim that keeps water in the shower stall and collapses when you roll a wheelchair over it. This is soooooo much safer than having a person and their caregiver risk slipping and falling when transferring in and out of the stall. If you have ever tried to use correct body mechanics while helping someone wash, dry and dress themselves in a shower stall, you will appreciate this solution. Let me know your solutions and comments!

Lego Building for Learning

My son is obsessed with Lego sets. He has dog-eared every page in our Lego catalog and asked to receive each set for Christmas:) We even cleared out the guest room to create his own Lego building play room. Even though we have a strong focus on Lego sets, I just discovered that Lego has education centers. Lego also offers professional development courses! Who knew?? Please share your Lego stories and comments.

Legos for Learning

My son is obsessed with Lego sets. He has dog-eared every page of the Lego catalog and asked to receive each set for Christmas:) We even cleared out the guest room in order to create his very own Lego play room. Despite all of the Lego products & catalogs we have, I just discovered that Lego has education centers! The centers focus on increasing a child's learning through hands-on building. They even offer professional education courses...who knew??? If you are familiar with these programs, please share your comments.

http://www.lego.com/education/centers/default.asp?pagename=about_centers&l2id=5_5

Being thankful: easier said then done

http://http://www.123greetings.com/events/thanksgiving/

Several years ago, when my husband and I were going through marriage counseling, I realized something: It is important for me (us) to be thankful for the challenges in our lives because those times bring opportunity for learning and for forgiveness. For example, if someone's hurtful behavior emerges (again!) then we can use that situation to tackle the issue. I had to train myself to say "thank you" when my husband and I would argue or when our son with autism would throw a day-long tantrum. Then I forced myself to say "thank you"  to the universe for not allowing me to win the essay contest with its trip to NYC. As it turns out, the time I would have been in NYC needed to be the time I had to undergo medical testing and ultimately prep for surgery. Now I just say "thank you" (even if I am angry) and then wait to see what comes next. Maybe this is a technique you have already tried to do or that you may want to try. If you haven't already tried saying thank you when you are mad, start off with easy issues. Example, "thank you for making me late to get out the door...turns out I could have been in the car accident that was just ahead of me". Please tell your stories.

http://www.scienceofeverydaylife.com/families/

Check out this link for 3M's Discovery Education portion of their website. Looks like they have excellent ideas for learning by exploring your environment. This could be helpful with those who need practice processing sensory input.

3M's Amazing Solutions

http://www.command.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/NACommand/Command/

Between creating a school supply/mud room, decorating for the holidays and posting visual cues to help our son with autism (and us) enjoy the holidays, I find 3M hooks to be brilliant. As our family and son's needs change, so can our display areas. Since I just finished painting most of the rooms in the house, I don't want to ruin the walls with nails. For decorating, I don't want to be limited by the location of electrical outlets or previous nail locations. Now I don't have to worry! Let your creativity flow and create a serene yet functional home setting.

Toys R Us & Autism products

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4089811

Toys R Us has been featuring products for those caring for someone with autism. Their newest product is the book by the football star Rodney Peete. I plan to get this for myself...I am putting it on my Christmas list. You may want to check it out since insight from others often gives us at least one bright idea or aha! moment. If you have read the book, I would love to hear your feedback and ideas, insights.

Good Nite Lite: Helps Keep Children in Bed

Especially with Daylight Savings time changes, this Good Nite Lite is what my son with autism LOVES! He is so proud when he stays in bed until the "sun comes up" and he knows it's time to wind down and prep for bed when the "moon lights up." On the back of this light is an easy to set clock for the current time, the morning time you want the sun to light up and the evening time you want to moon to light up. It also comes with excellent ideas for how to introduce the use of the light. For transitions such as waking up and going to bed, this really works for us. Check it out!! Who knows? Maybe you can sleep in a little this weekend.
Good Nite Lite: Helps Keep Children in Bed

QCharm Cares for Caregivers: Visual Cue for Stressed Out Caregivers

QCharm Cares for Caregivers: Visual Cue for Stressed Out Caregivers: "Check out this water container with the friendly reminder to keep your cool during stressful times. Who knows, maybe someone else will notic..."

Visual Cue for Stressed Out Caregivers

Check out this water container with the friendly reminder to keep your cool during stressful times. Who knows, maybe someone else will notice you and your visual cue and take the message to heart?! 

http://www.solutions.com/jump.jsp?itemID=16013&itemType=PRODUCT&iProductID=16013