Choosing Toys for Children with Special Needs...

Sometimes it's really difficult to find toys that are fun and accessible for children with special needs. Here are some of the sites that I have always had lots of luck with when I'm looking for a special therapy toy.
Able Play - http://ableplay.org/. This is a toy rating system and website that provides comprehensive information on toys for children with special needs.
Beyond Play - http://www.beyondplay.com/. An excellent resource for toys designed for children with motor, visual, cognitive, social, sensory, and language needs.
Bright Tots - http://www.brighttots.com/. This is an excellent collection of shopping tips, toy buying guides, and links to need specific websites.
Dragonfly Toys - http://www.dragonflytoys.com/. The focus is on computer games and other adaptive technology.
Glamma Toys - https://glammatoys.com/. You’ll discover a world of unique toys and games that promote imaginative play for children.
Mealtimes - http://www.new-vis.com/. Oral motor toys and other resources for promoting successful feeding interactions are available.
Lekotek Centre - http://www.lekotek.org/. Often family members may be uncertain which toys the child with special needs will be successful using. Out of this need the Lekotek Toy Resource Helpline 1-800-366-PLAY was established.
Pacific Pediatric Supply - http://www.pacificpediatricsupply.com/. This site provides innovative, high quality, sensory integration products for autistic and special needs children.
Play Works - http://www.playworks.net/. Toys that encourage children to play, to learn what happens as a result of their actions, and to build skills are featured.
The Therapy Shoppe - http://www.therapyshoppe.com/. On this site you will find a wonderful assortment of therapy merchandise and specialty toys and games.

Check It Out.....

I was doing a little web surfing today and came across a really cool website called Wonder Baby. http://www.wonderbaby.org/ . It was designed by the parents of a child who is blind and offers some really excellent suggestions for adapting toys for a child with visual issues as well as other types of special needs. There are also links to some other very interesting resources and web sites. The modifications they suggest for toys and other activities are easy to do and really promote involvement in play that doesn't have to feel like therapy!

The New Language of Toys: Teaching Communication Skills to Children with Special Needs by Sue Schwartz

This is a really good book for parents who are just unsure of what kinds of toys may be appropriate for their child with special needs between the ages of birth and six years. Although Dr. Schwartz doesn't go into a lot of specific diagnosis, she does offer suggestions on toys that would be appropriate for children at different developmental levels and provides a solid rationale for why a certain toy may help to develop a specific skill. The majority of the book provides a review of commercially available toys which is a bit of a drawback because since this edition was published in 2004 there are obviously not a lot of newer toys reviewed. But with that being said, this book will give you great ideas about the types of toys you might want to look for. Something else that I have found to be very helpful about the book is that Dr. Schwartz provides suggestions on how to create homemade toys that can be fun for children at all different developmental levels. She also offers a wide range of tips about the kind of language that would be considered to be developmentally appropriate for children with emerging language skills. Some of the "dialogues" she presents seem a bit complex for children with language needs, but overall there are some really great ideas about supporting language development through a variety of different play activities.

Changed by a Child by Barbara Gill

This wonderful book is a collection of daily reflections about what it is like to be the parent of a child with special needs. It is filled with stories from parents who obviously understand the challenges and rewards of raising a child considered by the rest of the world to be "disabled". This is an excellent resource for parents, but is also something that every person wanting to work with families and children with special needs of all types should read. It is a compelling and honest account of the struggles and joys faced by families every day.

Make a Sound and Move Around by Joe Rothstein

Toddlers and young children will enjoy the energetic songs on this CD created by a speech-language pathologist. Make a Sound and Move Around is designed to promote social, sensory, and speech skills through songs and games. The booklet that comes with the CD provides words for all of the songs as well as ideas for extending the songs to other play activities that help support development in young children. It's a great compilation of songs (my favourite is the Freeze Dance) that are developmentally appropriate for young children in the process of learning to use language.

I Can, Can You? by Marjorie W. Pitzer

This is a beautiful photo board-book that features infants and toddlers with Down Syndrome participating in a wide range of different daily activities. Each page shows one large picture of a child doing things like stacking blocks, playing in water, looking at books, and playing in the mirror. The text that accompanies each picture is very repetitive, which is great for little ones in the early stages of book exploration (e.g., "I can take a bath! Can you?", "I can play with blocks! Can you?"). In general, the message of the book is that children with special needs can do all of the same things that children without these needs can do. Where to Buy: This book, and other children's books about special needs, can be purchased at http://www.woodbinehouse.com/.