Autism Service Therapy Dog

I've been holding off on posting about this on the blog. Not sure why - I think I just really hate asking for help. As a parent, you learn to put your pride aside and this is one of those times for me.

I've posted before that Kyra has autism. She also has seizures. We've made the tough decision to start fundraising to get a service/therapy dog for her. It was tough for us to decide what to do because financially, we are pretty strapped. I can't work because she cannot go to daycare/preschool. I know she technically could, but we've made so much progress and the amount that she regresses when placed in a high stress environment made us decide to keep her home. All of our income goes to household necessities and to anything Kyra needs (along with gas to get her to and from therapy 3-5x a week) and to the pets we already have. What held us back from immediately saying 'yes' was the start up cost for getting a dog (cage, food, shots, toys, spaying/neutering, gas to get to training, etc.). We decided to toss a little extra onto our goal to get us started. We've only posted the link on facebook and our friends have done the rest.

So far we've raised $1,172 out of $6,000.

If anyone reading this would like to donate, you can check out our ChipIn page, which also covers why we want the dog and what it will help Ky with. We are grateful for any amount - we've gotten this far on mostly $5-$20 donations!

http://kyra.chipin.com/kys-service-dog

We really appreciate all of the help we've gotten. I can't believe we've come such a long way since starting the page. We still have quite a ways to go, but we will get there! If anyone would like to pass the link along, please do. Thank you so much everyone!

As a thank you, here are some recent pictures of Kyra:

Weighted Stuffed Animal

Our therapist gave us the brilliant idea of making a weighted stuffed animal for kiddo to use when she was upset or needed some kind of heavy lifting. Up until now, we had just been using hand weights which can get pretty dangerous (especially when she decides to play catch with you). We needed something that was heavy but still safe to throw. We were going to take one of her favorite TV show characters, take out the stuffing, and replace it with something heavy inside. Unfortunately, all of the stuffed animals we had were small and probably wouldn't be heavy enough. We know she can lift 10 pounds no problem, so we wanted something that was at least 5 pounds because, lets face it, no two year old should be throwing around 10 pounds worth of weight.

Poor guy doesn't know what's in store for him

We had an empty Build-A-Bear laying around from a friend who was nice enough to bring back from a her daughter's birthday party that we weren't able to make it to.We planned to get it stuffed later on but never made it to the store. It was perfect since they are meant to be filled and tied - no sewing needed. We went to the store and bought enough beans to fill the entire bear, leaving just a little wiggle room so it didn't rip the seams. Our bear turned out to be exactly 5 pounds. If you want your bear to be lighter, try doing half beans & half beanbag filling. You could probably do half stuffing and half beans, but the weight might not distribute evenly. 

This has worked out great so far for throwing. I can't say she has ever bonded with a stuffed animal and carried it around, but we are hoping we could get her to carry it in the stores.

He makes a good snuggle buddy

 Some great activities you can do with your bear:

• Throwing the bear during a meltdown
• Pushing the bear in a stroller
• Pulling the bear in a wagon
• Putting the bear in a backpack and wearing it (put a time limit on this and make sure it isn't too heavy)
• Holding the bear throughout a store
• Putting the bear on kiddo's lap while sitting at a table or in a stroller
• Jumping while holding the bear

Seeking Sensory Input; At Home Edition

Kiddo craves movement. All the time. She is constantly running, spinning, jumping, crashing, swinging, flipping, etc. As I'm writing this, she is in the next room with daddy spinning in circles and crashing (unfortunately, she just crashed herself right into a wall).

Jump Jump Jump- Trampoline is from Walmart - $36

All of this feels good to her, more than it would for us. She uses these activities for two main reasons - self regulating and seeking input. It is more common for her to use it to regulate her body and feel comfortable again, but sometimes she seeks the sensory input from spinning fast or the repetitive motion of swinging back and forth. Sometimes she just wants to be rough-housed and thrown around to get that "deep pressure" feeling. Over time, we are starting to learn what she needs and when she wants it. Its important for a child to learn which ones soothe them and feel good. A lot of exposure at different times when experiencing different emotions is a good thing. Over time, they'll most likely find a way to communicate which ones they need. We use the same blanket to swing, and she eventually learned to bring it to us when she needs to calm down.

Swing, count to 10, then "crash" on the couch/bed. 

I hear a lot that you don't want to let an autistic kid spin too much or they will 'do it forever/more' or 'look funny when they go to school' or "get too excited". You want to let them do it and learn how to regulate their bodies. Over exposure can be bad, but you want to aim for 5-10 minutes, no more than 15 (this is advice straight from her therapist). Most kids will usually not go over 15 minutes but in some cases, they don't know when to stop. That is something to discuss with your child's OT and figure out a schedule. Every kid is different so you will want to talk to an OT about it if you have access to one. If not, there are some things you can still do. Just remember to listen and watch for cues from your child.

Some easy ways to do these at activities at home if you don't have access to private OT therapy:

- A Mini Trampoline
- Wrapping the child in a blanket, swinging to 10 and "crashing" on the couch/bed
- A Sit and Spin
- Spinning in a laundry basket
- Spinning on a computer chair
- Special needs treadmill (no power involved, but pricey)
- Swimming or water play
- Weighted Blanket (see below)
- Weighted lap pad or vest
- Smushing underneath a pillow
- Rough Play / Wrestling
- Throwing weights or a Medicine Ball (5pounds or under is good to start off with)
- Wrapping up in a blanket and rolling
- Pop Tube (Helps with pushing and pulling sensation)

Weighted blankets provide the perfect amount of all over pressure to the body

Weighted blankets are really great and I recommend them to everyone. Kiddo uses hers every day. Sometimes she will use it during the day to calm down, but mostly she asks for it at night. Weighted blankets are okay to use as much and as often and the child wants, unlike weighted vests which should be used for 20 minutes. They are safe to use all night long. A lot of times Kiddo will wake up if hers falls off. A good starting point is 10% of the child's weight + 1 pound.

Hopefully, after doing all of this HARD work throughout the day, your child will be tired and actually sleep. I wish this worked for mine but we did notice a decrease in night-wakings when we bought the trampoline. She no longer wakes up at 1am to jump on her bed for 3 hours. I'll take that as a positive!

Hey, at the very least, your kid will walk away with huge muscles...

*As an added note - I am not an OT, just a parent who is trying to help my kiddo make it through the day. If you have serious concerns or questions, please contact your doctor or local therapy center*

Glow in the Dark Water Beads

This was super fun and really easy to do! My kiddo finds both water play and light play to be really calming, so this was perfect for her.

All you need to make them glow is a black-light marker. You can get these online at Amazon, prices vary from $7-$14 depending on how many you want. We also found them at Spencers. To make the water glow, I took a single highlighter, pulled the inside out (the squishy part that contains all of the color), and soaked it in the water. I used warm water and just kept squeezing it till all the color came out. Add in your water beads and you are done! We used a black-light to make it really glow!

*As a warning, most glow-in-the-dark products do leave slight stains on the floor. I'v had it come out of clothing and skin no problem but the floor is stubborn. Make sure you put a towel down!

Oral Sensory Activity

Oral sensitivity is my daughter's biggest issue. We struggle every day to get her to eat and it usually ends up being the same foods every day. She likes to stick to dry, crunchy, or hard foods yet she sometimes accepts wet foods (yogurt, bananas). Its the in between foods that she won't touch at all. Our poor OT comes to the house every week, prepared to fight with Kyra to do anything with food. We went from having her gag and almost throw up at the sight of spaghetti noodles, to being able to pick one up and throw it in the trash. HUGE progress on Kyra's part. 

One goal of desensitizing a child enough to try a new food is to get them to play with it. Eventually they will get used to the texture on their hands and maybe lick it or even try a piece of it. Food is scary to children, especially unknown foods. It's a good idea to designate a space and time for playing with your foods. Kyra has her own table set up in the playroom where she can eat or play - we encourage both! 

Since pasta is the enemy, I decided to make it fun for her. 

All you need to do is cook your pasta normally and drain it. Separate it into different bowls for the different colors, then add a few drops of food coloring and stir! You can let it soak up the color for a few minutes if you want, then dump it into a container. Make sure you offer a spoon or fork as well. Your kiddo might think "hey, I use a fork to eat other foods, maybe I can use it to eat this one!". 

At first, Kyra was hesitant to touch anything at all. We started naming the colors, then eventually she wanted to point and touch each color. She picked up a few pieces (I almost fainted!) then opted to use the fork for the rest of the play. This was GREAT because it meant she was no longer terrified or gagging at the thought of pasta being near her. It wasn't a threat which meant she could put her guard down and have fun. If you are feeling brave, you can also add a 'safe' food into the bucket that your child enjoys to eat on a regular basis. Another good idea is to have the bucket out when your child is eating their regular meal to associate this pasta with safe foods they already enjoy.

This is a good activity to do a few times a week, eventually offering a bowl of plain noodles and some sauce that they could "color" their own noodles in. Encourage them to try the sauce, to lick it off  their fingers, and eventually dip the noodle in and lick it off the noodle. Patience is key - you don't want to move too fast and upset them. It could take months or even a year before they are comfortable enough to try a new food. 

Squishies

So, I'm not really sure what you would call these, but we call them 'squishies' at our house.

Kyra absolutely loves them and they are a great calming method. They are even small enough that you can bring them with you when you have to go to the store or know that your child needs a fidget toy.

For a lot of kids with sensory problems, the act of pushing and pulling feels really good to them, which is why usually therapists will recommend brushing and joint compressions (will make a post on that soon) along with heavy work. These toys work in a similar way - they allow the child to pull them or wear them, providing some pressure to the body. Kyra also finds relief from wearing tight "sensory shirts" that work in a similar way. To her, they feel like a big bear hug, which is why wearing some of her 'squishies' on her arms and legs also feels good. A lot of people mistake "sensory activities" with "things that feel squishy/slimy/gooey/funny on your hands" which isn't always true.  The biggest form of relief for my daughter is doing some kind of heavy work such as picking up a 5 pounds hand weight and throwing it. When we are out in the store and can't actually carry around a 5 pound weight with us all the time, we depend on fidget toys like 'squishies' to provide that 'heavy pulling' feeling.

You can find basic animal or ball squishies at any dollar store, Five Below, Michaels, Target, Walmart, etc. They pretty much sell them anywhere that has a $1-$5 section.

You can find the ring squishies at Fun and Function HERE. They come in a set of 18 for $11.99. They have some more fidget toys on their site but it is a little expensive. You can also find the sensory shirts that I mentioned above here. It was the only place I could find one in a 2T, but if you have an older child you can also check out Under Armour.

Treasure Chest

This was a little something special I made for my daughter shortly after we started introducing sensory play. I'll go through everything I used and then include a cheaper and easier way!

(Click on any picture to see a bigger version)

My daughter LOVES the ocean and anything that has to do with sea animals. This project seemed perfect for her especially because she loves small pebbles. I decided to make her a treasure chest using small aquarium rocks and small sea animals. This exact project isn't great for every age - please use supervision if your child loves to stick toys in their mouth.

I waited until Michael's had a 50% off one item coupon. They sell a few different size wooden unfinished chests, so pick out a size that works for you. I believe I paid $10 after the coupon. I also picked up a few pre-painted decorations for the outside. At the time, Michael's had these little erasers in the shape of sea animals. You can usually find these also at dollar stores or discount stores. They might still have them at Michaels. Another alternative is Squinkies - they are a small, squishy toy that is sold at any toy store. You can pretty much use any type of sea toy you want! You'll want to pick up some paint or stain too. My daughter is rough with her toys so we used a sealer for the paint so she didn't chip it.

The last thing we needed was aquarium rocks. We bought the little rocks since she prefers them over the bigger ones. I bought two 5lb bags of the small colored aquarium rocks. You could easily get away with one bag. You could even buy the bigger stones if you are worried about the choking hazard. Or you could take a trip to the park and have your child collect rocks to put inside. I added a few aquarium decorations that we already had to make it feel more real. Get creative and add whatever you want! You could do sand, but I'm not sure how well the chest would hold it. If you decide to try it, seal all the cracks with hot glue first so the sand doesn't pour out.

The end result of supplies will look something like this -
Treasure Chest - $10-$20 (depending on size & coupon)
Aquarium Rocks - $10-15
Sea Animals - $5-10
Decorations - $5-10
Paint/Stain - $5-10 (We had ours at home already)

Our treasure chest came to about $40. This was a lot more than we would have spent normally on a project, so we tried to incorporate a lot of what we had at home. We had the paint and some of the decorations already. We waited until we had coupons to keep the cost low.

A cheaper way of doing this would be using a small storage container with a lid so you can easily store it away for next time. This would eliminate the cost of the treasure chest, paint, and the outside decorations. If you do it this way, you could use rocks or sand without making a huge mess. This would also make a great activity for a sensory bucket or a sensory table!

Water Beads

This is our favorite activity to do! We have our sensory bucket out almost all day long with water beads sitting in them.

Never heard of water beads? They are basically little polymer balls that hold water and release them slowly over time. They are usually used in flower vases. Some beads bleed the color into the water and others do not. You can buy these already at a full size or you can buy the smaller, dried version that you have to soak in water for 4-6 hours.

You can play with these without any water in the bucket, but it is also fun to add a lot of water too! The water beads look like they 'dissolve' but if you stick your hand in, you can still feel them! It is super fun and also great for sensory play. We also like putting in larger glass stones (they can be found in the flower section of craft stores) and giving the child a cup to collect them in. Try to pick a different color than the beads so it is easier to see. Always supervise the child if you do this - they can be a choking hazard! This activity is great for fine motor skills and color sorting!

We buy our beads at Michaels but you can probably find these at any other craft store. They run around $4.99 for a large container of already full sized beads that do not leak color. Our last trip, we picked up red beads and they DID bleed the color into the water, but all of the other colors have been okay. We usually use two containers in her sensory bucket.

In order to keep these fresh, you have to put a little bit of water back into the container when you package them up. We had a problem in the beginning where after a few weeks, the water would start to smell. We threw out three containers of beads over the course of 4 months because there was no way to get the smell out. We did come up with a solution!! We found if we put a small drop of Tea Tree Oil into the container, it would kill the bacteria from leaving water in the container (and also whatever bacteria makes its way in from your toddler's hands) and it would give them a nice smell! Do not put more than a small drop into the water though. This stuff is powerful and too much is not a good thing.

Does anyone else use water beads? How do YOU play with them?

Shaving Cream

Shaving cream is an absolute favorite around here - for both of us! Not only does it clean her table, but it is so so easy to clean up! All you need is a towel and it literally dissolves once you start wiping it up. Today we added paint to our shaving cream and it was super fun!

We started off adding blue paint, then pink, and watched it turn purple! A fun learning experience :)

Playing with Dyed Rice

This was one of our first sensory bucket activities and it still is a favorite! I suggest picking up a decent sized bucket for smaller sensory play time. We got the one below at BigLots for $5 over the summer. They still had some last time we were there along with different sizes. They keep the mess off of the floor while still allowing smaller kids to play freely.

We started by buying a huge bag of white rice. I suggest discount stores for this. We found a large bag at BigLots for $6. You'll also need food coloring and small plastic zip baggies. Take a cup of rice, pour it into the bag, and add some food coloring. Zip up the bag and hand it to your toddler! My daughter loves squishing the food coloring and rice all around. After you are happy with the results, pour the rice onto a plate or pan to dry for about an hour or two depending on how much food coloring you used.

Experiment with different colors! Mix certain ones to create a different pattern. So many possibilities. We started with blues and greens then added in more colors.