Do you work with children with severe to profound disabilities?

Question

If you are a Educational Professional and work with children with disabilities or worked around them, tell me some types of toys you recommend for them and why? Or the types of towards that are age appropriate, gender-related and good for children with disabilities.

Any feedback you have would be great. Do you find it easy to locate toys for children who are disabled?

Answer 1

I have been closely involved with people who have disabilities, both as a family member and as a professional, for more than 40 years. Most of the time, the classic toys are appropriate, and educational, for all kids, whether or not they have a disability. Blocks, Legos, K'Nex, any kind of stacking, building, or construction gives practice in motor planning and fine motor. Dolls, cars & trucks, play kitchens with dishes & toy food - all these give an opportunity for motor development as well as imaginative play. Simple games like Lucky Ducks, Barnyard Bingo, and Hungry Hippos are still a hit with my 5 to 8-year-old students, who are classified as severely disabled; they practice preacademic skills such as color matching and social skills such as turn taking when playing.
Art materials of all sorts are excellent - painting with fingers, brushes, feathers, forks, marbles; playdough activities using hands, rolling pins, objects to press into the dough, etc.; coloring with crayons, markers, and chalk; cutting and gluing; just remember that the point is for the child to experience the process, not to produce a masterpiece.
Blowing soap bubbles appeals to almost every child, and it can be a great activity to help develop the oral motor skills needed for speech when the child has to control his breath to make a bubble. And chasing the bubbles, and popping them, is a fun gross and fine motor activity.
Drawing in shaving cream is fun, smells good, gives practice in prewriting skills, and is easy to clean up.
My students love using a toy hammer to pound golf tees into styrofoam. (We use the pieces that come as packing material.)
All human beings respond to music and rhythm. Even children with profound hearing impairments respond to the vibrations of the stereo speakers. At school, I play a wide variety of music while the kids are working at their desks, and we sing and dance every day. You can adapt all kinds of songs to make them relevant to your child and your situation. Singing also helps speech development. I have had a number of students who learned to sing first and then to speak. We also play simple instruments such as drums, tambourines, bells, etc.
Lights of various sorts are also cool. I string different kind of decorative lights each month - fruit, pumpkins & ghosts, turkeys, etc. etc. We also play a game where we darken the room and I shine a flashlight on the floor, urging each child in turn to step on the light, or touch it with their hands, or sit on it, etc.
Balls and balloons are fun for all sorts of activities, including visual tracking as well as the motor aspects.
These are all traditional, readily available items that are appropriate for any child, no matter the age or developmental level.
If you are talking about a child with profound cognitive disabilties as well as significant motor impairment, many of these activities are still appropriate with modifications. Any child with vision will respond to lights and bubbles, and any child with hearing will respond to musical input. You may also want to check out the catalogs (available online) for Abilitations and Sportime, which have an incredible selection of items. They are not cheap, but often I have gotten some great ideas from them for things I could make or modify for my students.
I hope I have given you some useful ideas!

Answer 2

Ive worked with children with disablities for many years.. I recommend toys that they can learn from and advance their motor skills.. like blocks that have shapes that have to go in the hole that has the same shape, or putting beads on a string to make bracelets, or u can order a device that teaches them how to tie a knot, or zip a zipper and button a button. They need to use their motor skills and how to be more functional no matter the severity of their disability..
When we learn to not focus on the childs disability and more onwho they are.. then finding things for them to enjoy will not be hard. Good luck!!

Answer 3

I am not a professional, I am "just" a mom. The best thing that I have found for children with all types of disabilities is picture cards. These cards can help in so many ways. Many children are non-verbal, or low-verbal, and these cards help the child to express themselves. I also have found them helpful in getting these special children motivated to do things on their own. These cards usually have a picture and the appropriate word on them. There are several sites on line that have them, or you can make your own. I got the ones I use from the school.

Answer 4

I'm a grandmother, My 8 year old grandson has a syndrome called RTS. He self stimulates so he loves his trampoline and Rocking House, He loves music and children's videos, he won't play with toys so it all depends on what the child is interested in, find their interest and you'll find their toy.

Good luck

Answer 5

Lekotek toy lending library is fantastic and an easy way for terapists to get toys to parent who need them but dont necessarily need them very long. You borrow the ytoys until t skillis achieved then get another toy to work on other skills.

Answer 6

I have worked with children with serve to moderate autism. They loved the children toys that taught ABC's (the computerized ones) and LEGOS noise was good for some and bad for others, it up to the child. We had one that love the letter c because it was the first letter in her name she would only press that key on the toy. As for our wheel chair bound child motorized toys that vibrate. they love the feel and it also exercised their muscles.

Answer 7

I have a child with disabilities and my therapist recommended a toy piano to improve her motor skills. Any kind/brand will do.

Answer 8

I work with severe/profound 16-22 yr olds. The best place to get switch activities is Ablenet...toys for special children...they have a variety of adapted toys and devices (age appropriate) for environmental controls
http://www.ablenetinc.com/

For software, I like Softtouch
http://www.softtouch.com/

I also LOVE Don Johnston products...he also has some devices and lots of software.
http://www.donjohnston.com/

For some items (sports or recreation related) I like Abilitations
http://www.abilitations.com/

I also like to look at the items on these sites and see if I can find something similar in a regular store and adapt it myself in a low tech fashion or ask someone to make it for me. For example, if you look at some of the switch adapted toys on Ablenet, you can simply buy the battery adapter and a switch for a minimal amount of money and get the toy unadapted at WalMart and adapt it yourself cheaper.
It has gotten easier in the last few years to find age appropriate items for my students because of the improvements in technology and disability awareness...I try to attend our state's assistive technology conference each year to see what's new....I actually met Don Johnston himself there. These designers of items are highly interested in talking to teachers/parents to find out what their students/kids need so they can get back to the drawing board and create them.

Answer 9

Evaluate their abilities. A bright colored toy can't be seen by the blind and roller skates are not a great choice for someone in a wheel chair. Look for toys and things that are within their ability to interact with.