What are people saying about SOFT? New Video

Vote by December 31st at MIDNIGHT!
http://ideablob.com/ideas/843-A-line-of-inclusive-children-

Your Motivating Support!

For over a month now, people have been voting for our idea for a line of clothing for children with sensory sensitivity, on IDEABLOB.COM. We have the chance to win a grant to start making our clothes, but even if that does not happen, we have received something ultimately more valuable--personal stories, constructive feedback, and motivating support. Here are some of our most favorite quotes from the comments section of our ideablob.com entry.

"My son has struggled with sensory issues most of his early life. He was not able to wear regular bluejeans until he was 16 years old becasue the snap and zipper bothered him so much. He wore sweat pants all the time and ended up looking like a sloppy nerd. I feel that he suffered socially becasue he wasn't able to dress like his peers. I sure wish that Softclothes had been around for him!"

"This would be a Godsend for my daughter.I can not find any clothing for her.Currently she is wearing a 2 sizes too big out of season dress,the same one,day after day.Her S.I.D. is so bad that she doesnt wear socks even in winter.I hope SOFT wins-it is needed!"


"I have had difficulty buying clothes for my daughter throughout her life. She did not have a diagnosis of Asperger's and sensory problems until she was about 14. In those 14 yeasr I spent a lot of money on good clothes that she would not wear. I bought many pr of socks before I learned that the seam was a problem. On several occasions she asked me to buy her a lacy dress or an outfit that had some texture, then she would not wear the clothes, because they were too uncomfortable. it is not only parents of children with defined diagnoses that run into this problem. If there had been a solution when my child was young, I expect that this information would have been shared among the mom-network. Great idea for any child who is picky about the "feel" of clothing."

"My son suffered this problem for years and still does. When he was aged 2-3 he would walk around in the crucifix position. We would say, "Hello, he's pretending to be a signpost again." Then we discovered his autism. He still (35 years later) wears no socks or underpants and refuses to wear most of the stuff we buy him. I see these traits in so many adults with a variety of neurodiverse conditions and I will pass the details on to them. Good luck with the venture."


"Finally!! I have a son who is autistic and a daughter who has PDD. Both have extreme clothing sensitivity. I dread shopping for clothing. Neither will wear pants with zippers or buttons, they have to elastic waist bands. All clothing has to be incredibly soft. I would love to be able to purchase clothing that meets that criteria at an affordable price. I hope there will be a large selection. What about shoes? Good luck."


Please do not forget to vote! Even if you voted in round one, you may now vote again by midnight, December 31st:


http://ideablob.com/ideas/843-A-line-of-inclusive-children-


And thank you very much!

Autism Speaks Advertisement in the New Yorker

What is your opinion regarding this ad, which I found in the New Yorkers end-of-the-year issue? Necessary for creating awareness? Creates unnecessary panic? Sensitive? insensitive? Better than the ones that compared the odds of your child being struck by lightning or otherwise ending up dead? I am wondering what feelings this sort of add campaign provokes in a parent of a child with Autism, or an individual with Autism. Please share your comments!

SOFT is going to be on the RADIO!

Tune in tomorrow, Thursday, December 27th at 7pm CST, 8pm EST, 5pm PST, to http://www.blogtalkradio.com/WayneHurlbert

The show is a live 60 minute internet radio show featuring Ami Kassar, ideablob’s Chief Innovation Officer and their November ideablob winner, Marci Schankweiler of Crossing the Finish Line.

SOFT founder and design director, Jessica Elsas, will be interviewed about her clothing line for kids with sensory sensitivity, associated with Autism, Aspergers, and Sensory Processing Disorder. SOFT is now a finalist to receive a start-up grant from IDEABLOB, and voting ends on December 31st, so please do vote!

Click here to vote, or go to www.ideablob.com.

We are front runners on IDEABLOB! Vote again!

Get out the vote! Bring the kids! The fam! The grandparents! Anyone with an email address! From now until December 31st, you can help SOFT win a startup grant of $10,000! We need your help, and it only takes a few clicks. Here are some inspirational quotes from some of the voters so far:

"Oh, I SO hope you win! My daughter has Autism and yet wants to dress cute. We've been buying the cheap cotton-knit clothes at WalMart and they just don't hold up to all of her flopping around. Even with those we are cutting out tags all the time. As a side note, I'm an Aspie with sensory issues myself, so an adult line of clothes might be an idea as well. I love yoga-style clothes because they're so loose and soft. But, you can't wear those all the time."


"I have a 9 yr old girl who has been an extreme challenge to dress since she was 18 months old. I have spent many hours shopping to find clothes that will "work" for her, and most of the time I had to return more than she kept (stores & trying on clothes is not a postive experience for Sensory kids) and most of what she kept, didn't "work" later on. My daughter is very heavy & would LOVE to have fashionable clothes that look and feel good. Best wishes!"

"I think your clothing line is a great idea! I teach kids with special needs, k-5th grade. Many have sensory problems. They also want to dress fashionably but find it difficult to do so and be independent. Those blasted button and snaps and zippers on jeans. Creating a line of fashionable clothing, using models with special needs in catalogs, and making sure everything promotes independence, I am in support of that! If you need help, just call!"

"Hi there, I was so excited that I started typing and almost clicked 'post comment' when I realised I hadn't even introduced myself... Hi, I am Samantha Pon, the South African Host of an International Parent Support Group, namely SPD Parent Share and our focus is providing support, advice, information and resources to all those families living with Sensory Processing Disorder - May I just say that... Oh my Gosh!!! when I came across your page, my thoughts were 'wow, this is a pretty good idea' and rushed off to make lunch for the kids, etc. Coming back to my pc, I refreshed the page and (by now I had time to actually look at SOFT) WOW!! WOW!! and you know what, WOW!! I was absolutely stunned to find that you are only 28 years old!! This is definitely the best thing since sliced bread…more, I don't think you even know how brilliant you are or how many children/families are going to benefit from this... my dear, I would wish you luck but you don't need it... the benefits and genius of this clothing line speaks for itself!"



Join the enthusiastic supporters today! Here is the link to vote:

http://ideablob.com/ideas/843-A-line-of-inclusive-children-

SOFT needs your vote AGAIN! Vote until December 31, 2007!

(Thank you to all who already voted! You got us into the finals, and you can
now vote again to bring us all the way home!)

Cut and paste the following link to VOTE (or click the link at the top of the blog page)

ideablob.com/ideas/843-A-line-of-inclusive-children-

Independent reviews of toys for children with Special needs!

http://www.ableplay.org/

This helpful and independent organization offers detailed reviews of toys that are appropriate for children with special needs, and provides helpful ratings such as the one below:

*****The toy is exceptional for children in that disability category
****The toy is very good for children in that disability category
***The toy is good for children in that disability category
**The toy is adequate for children in that disability category
*The toy is not suitable for children in that disability category

At this holiday shopping time, this can be a really helpful resource for those kids in your lives with special needs!

Happy Holidays from SOFT!

WE WON the sprint! Now help us with the RACE!

Thank you to all of you who voted and commented on our IDEABLOB.COM submission to raise start-up capital for Soft (clothing for all children)! We won the sprint, meaning we made it into the final round. Everyone can vote again starting December 22, 2007, and these are the votes that count toward WINNING! We could not have gotten this far without our supporters, and we can make it to the end with your continued suppport!

Thanks so very very much!

check out our idea profile, to read all the inspiring comments, and bookmark and mark your calendars for the final round!

Click here to view our IDEABLOB submission.

Soft(clothing for all children)
Sprint 2 Winner!
and December 2007 Finalist.
Come back and vote again during
December 22 -- December 31
to make it the $10,000 winning idea.

The ADD Sensory Connection

(from an article by Mary Jane Johnson on http://www.add.org/articles/hypersen.html)

The sensory ADD connection:

In an attempt to discover whether this hypersensitivity is more common in people with ADD, I took an "unscientific pole" of 65 ADD adults who attended a recent conference. The results are listed below:

1. Sensitivity to clothing (i.e. elastic, tags) 44%

2. Sensitivity to food textures 6%

3. Allergies 39%

4. Sensitive skin 67%

5. Heat and cold sensitivity 56%

6. Sensitive hearing 50%

7. Sensitivity to being touched 22%

8. Claustrophobia 39%

9. Stomach problems 50%

To read the full article, and explore ADD.org, click here.

Book Review: Seeing Yourself in Autism

Click here to read the full article from the New York Times

One reader writes:

"This is an interesting article, and should give hope to many parents of children identified as autistic. At the same time, it points to the difficulty of defining normalcy. With so much variability in traits among individuals both with regard to autistic spectrum and other health aspects, identifying characteristics that need to be treated and those that need to be accepted is a tough task.

In particular, the example cited of “look me in the eye” reminds me of articles about people from different cultures coming to the US and having difficulties looking someone in the eye, especially at someone in authority. They in fact have been trained not to look people in the eye, because in their culture it is considered to be confrontational to look someone in the eye. Should they be treated for their condition?"

— Posted by Reader001

(Purchase this book through the AMAZON widget at the bottom of our BLOG page)

What is "inclusive clothing"?

When we say inclusive clothing, we mean that we have considered a range of needs when designing and manufacturing our clothing, from the most sensory sensitive, to the most typically developing children.

To read about our philosophy of inclusion, click here.

VOTE TODAY! VOTE TOMORROW! JUST VOTE! (pretty please?)

Click here to vote for Soft (clothing for all children) on ideablob.com. We are at the top of the list, but to stay there, we will need all the help we can get. This is a chance for you and your network of friends and colleagues to raise money for a great cause, without having to write a single check! Just takes a few clicks, and makes a huge difference.

We thank you,

Jessica

New York Times Health Guides

I find this guide more informative and reliable than WIKIPEDIA, and with helpful, intelligent, insightful links to the most current research and articles being written about Autism, Aspergers, and Sensory Processing Disorder.

For the entire guide, click here:

Autism Health Guide

For specific links, see below:

• Overview
  • Alternative Names
  • Causes
  • Symptoms
  • Signs and Tests
  • Treatment
  • Support Groups
  • Expectations (prognosis)
  • Complications
  • Calling Your Health Care Provider
  • References
• News & Features

Interesting article about SPD in TIME magazine

The Next Attention Deficit Disorder? - TIME

"With a teacher for a mom and a physician's assistant for a dad, Matthew North had two experts on the case from birth, but his problems baffled them both. "Everything was hard for Matthew," says Theresa North, of Highland Ranch, Colo. He didn't speak until he was 3. In school, he'd hide under a desk to escape noise and activity. He couldn't coordinate his limbs well enough to catch a big beach ball."

It is interesting how this issue is becomming more mainstream. Maybe pretty soon we won't have to explain weighted vests and the necessity of seam and tag free clothing!

Excellent book for parents and teachers with children with SPD

http://www.out-of-sync-child.com/

This book, written by Carol Kranowitz, M.A., an early childhood
teacher for over 25 years, is a must for any parent or teacher with
children who have sensory processing issues. Here is a quote from her
website:

"For 25 years, I taught at St. Columba's Nursery School in Washington,
DC. Most preschoolers loved my classes involving music, movement, and
dramatic play. Every day, small groups of three-, four-, and five-year-
olds would come to my room to play, move, and learn. They happily
pounded on drums and xylophones, sang and clapped, danced and twirled.
They shook beanbags, manipulated puppets, and enacted fairy tales.
They waved the parachute, played musical follow-the-leader games, and
flowed through obstacle courses. They swooped like kites, stomped like
elephants, and melted like snowmen.

Most children enjoy such activities because they have effective
sensory processing--the ability to organize sensory information for use
in daily life. They take in sensations of touch, movement, sight, and
sound coming from their bodies and the world around them, and they
respond in a well-regulated way.

Some children, however, such as Andrew, Ben, and Alice, did not enjoy
coming to my classroom. Faced with the challenge of sensory-motor
experiences, they became tense, unhappy, and confused. They refused to
participate in the activities, or did so ineffectively, and their
behavior disrupted their classmates' fun. They are the children for
whom this book is written. "

I have recommended this book to countless parents and educators. It is
not only informative, but also practically applicable!

For more resources, check out the related links site on www.softclothing.net:

http://softclothing.net/index_files/Page533.htm

What is so different about SOFT?

Remember to vote for SOFT in December:
http://ideablob.com/ideas/843-A-line-of-inclusive-children-
or click here to vote!

SOFT needs your vote in December!

http://ideablob.com/ideas/843-A-line-of-inclusive-children-

We made it to the homepage! That means we have enough votes to actually maybe win!

Click the above link to vote for Soft(clothing for all children) on ideablob.com. We have a chance to win 10,000 dollars toward our start up capital, and have already made it to the homepage! I know this is a lot to ask at this busy time of year, but this idea will really help a lot of people. Please forward this link on to EVERYONE you know. Check out the comments on the idea description page (same link as above), they are very inspiring!

Thanks,

Jessica