Debates tonight 8pm

The final, and possibly most confrontational, Democratic debate will take place tonight, Thursday, January 31, 2008 on CNN at 8pm eastern, 5pm pacific. It will be 90 minutes and feature, of course, just Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton as we move towards Super Tuesday, Feb. 5th.

(sorry, I could not resist this photo!)

Second Edition of the SOFT TOTE!

It's new
It's colorful
It's chic
It's eco-friendly
and it supports SOFT's development

click here to go green with SOFT.

Touch Sensitivity (Tactile Defensiveness); When Clothes Hurt

Here is an interesting article on tactile defensiveness from sensoryprocessingdisorder.com


Children and adults with touch sensitivity (tactile defensiveness) struggle fo find clothes that are comfortable. It creates significant problems, especially when school or work dictate you have to wear something other than sweatpants and baggy sweatshirts. School uniforms? Dress shoes? Nylons? Ties? Button up shirts?

One Mom writes in...

"I have 10 year old triplets; two girls and a boy. Both girls have auditory processing disorders and one also has SPD. She has extreme tactile defensiveness, especially regarding clothing. The kids are required to wear uniforms to school, including polo shirts with collars. She cries every morning and she is probably very distracted in school because of the shirt.

Any advice? Any suggestions as to where I can purchase extra soft clothing? Thank you very much."

So... what DO you do when you are tactile defensive / touch sensitive and your clothes hurt?

Ideally, I would recommend getting an OT evaluation and/or back into therapy... since it is severely affecting her daily life. I assume, since she was diagnosed with SPD, she was in OT at one time? (If you are reading this and have not been diagnosed yet, but suspect you have tactile defensiveness or SPD, you can find out here). One of the most effective treatments for tactile defensiveness can be found in OT... the Wilbarger Brushing Protocol (which they are now referring to as DPPT-- Deep Pressure and Proprioceptive Technique). This protocol, however, needs to be taught by an experienced/trained professional and monitored by them as well. It has truly made huge differences in hundreds (? thousands) of
individuals' abilities to tolerate touch. To learn more about who can do/use this protocol on children, read "The Wilbarger Brushing Protocol; Who Can Do It".

Meanwhile, until OT begins, there are things you can do to help.

First, use TONS of fabric softener!! Wash and rewash and rewash as many times as you can with a lot of liquid fabric softener... soak them for days or multiple times if need be. This is a "magic pill" for many.

Second, is to buy clothes (even school uniforms) at a consignment shop or used clothing store; where they may have been worn and washed many times, naturally making them softer.

Third, have her do firm rub downs during and after her shower/bath. Start with lotion, move to baby washcloths, then rougher washcloths and towels, to scrubbies and loofahs as she increases her tolerance and decreases her touch sensitivity / defensiveness. But, make sure it is done consistently and as often as possible- working up to several times a day, if possible.

Fourth, give her some deep pressure lotion massages to her arms, legs, hands, neck, back, and feet (avoid the stomach). Use firm, even pressure.

Fifth, sew some very soft material (same color) of the inside of the shirt on the collar and seams of the shirt. Have her feel different materials at the store and decide which one feels best. (We did this for a the waistband of a pair of jeans for my daughter... she chose a silky material, and it worked!!)

The last thing you can try is a tight fitting lycra / spandex undershirt or a "compression shirt" underneath her shirt to give her some calming deep pressure input and keep the "itchy" shirt off her skin directly.

Although accommodations are a good idea and usually necessary, they are a temporary fix. Therefore, I do encourage OT treatment to address and change the underlying touch sensitivity (tactile defensiveness).

Source

To read about SOFT's mission to create a line of clothing for sensitive dressers, click here.

Take action for autism!

Take action for autism! This email initiative is in support of the Promise to Individuals with Autism Act of 2007, which provides much needed services to those with autism. The initiative targets the US Senate, specifically Senator Edward M. Kennedy, who is the chief Democrat of the senate commitee of Health, Education, Labor and Pension. The Act has been read twice and then sent to the comittee, where there has yet to be any action taken. The email is already written for the sender- you just have to customize and sign:

http://www.change.org/actions?event_id=16512

Please use the email link below to forward this to your network!

Thanks,

SOFT

You Betta VOTE on Super Tuesday!

Currently 24 states are scheduled to hold caucuses or primary elections on Super Tuesday, 2008. Blue denotes Democratic-only caucuses (3), Red denotes Republican-only state conventions (2), and Purple represents states holding elections for both parties (19).

For info about the democratic party, click here.
For republican party info, here.

Rock the Vote has lots of helpful voter info. Just get out there and VOTE!

Go Green with the SOFT TOTE!

Go green, support Soft, be chic. Buy our SOFT TEE TOTE today! I did!

The importance of positioning

Positioning is an important part of adapting the environment for children with special needs. It can be especially effective for supporting children with sensory/fine motor delays and difficulties. A therapist or teacher may recommend a range of adapted positioning devices, such as floor sitters, chair inserts, or slant boards (pictured above). At SOFT, we have chosen from some of the best positing aids for our Sensory Shop. Each item description includes uses and product reviews by parents and professionals.

Eli Stone follow-up: Controversy

For our earlier post on this new ABC series, click here.

The already controversial program, Eli Stone, which debuts Thursday at 9 p.m. depicts a lawyer who argues in court that a mercury-based preservative in a flu vaccine made a child autistic.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), after watching a seven-minute trailer of the show and reading media reports, was so outraged that it demanded that ABC cancel the episode. Ironically, the move is drawing even more attention to the show.

To read full article from the Chicago Tribune, click here.

For the Associated Press version of the story, click here.

Soft Star Shoes

They're soft! They're chic! They're handcrafted! They're for toddlers!

I have heard rave reviews about these shoes from parents of sensory sensitive dressers. For more styles, click here.

For info about Soft Star Shoes and healthy feet, click here.

GFCF Daily Recipe: It's CHILI!

Different kind of chili...
Mild Chili

1 pound hamburger
1/2 onion, diced
2 cans (15 ounce) kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can ( 15 ounce) diced tomatoes
2 cans (8 ounce) tomato sauce
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp Worcestershire
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

1. Brown hamburger and onion together in large pot.
2. Stir in remaining ingredients.
3. Heat to a boil and simmer on low until ready to serve.

For more recipes and ready-made GFCF snacks, click here.

U-M begins landmark study of toddlers with autism

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Autism researchers at the University of Michigan, the University of California-Davis and the University of Washington have been awarded a $15.3 million grant to determine the impact of intervening with toddlers age 2 and younger as part of the NIH Autism Centers of Excellence Networks. The five-year study is the first multi-site, randomized trial funded by the National Institutes of Health to determine if such efforts can reduce--or circumvent altogether—the language impairments and social deficits associated with the developmental disorder. Researchers will also determine the behavioral factors that help predict whether a child will respond well to this early treatment. Catherine Lord, U-M professor of psychology, psychiatry and pediatrics, and director of the U-M Autism and Communication Disorders Center, will collaborate with UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute researcher Sally J. Rogers and University of Washington Autism Center researchers. "We very much need to better understand how early intervention works and what interventions work best," Lord said. "Participating in the study allows us to provide high-quality service to families free of charge and to learn more about how to carry out the most effective treatments of autism in young children." Lord is confident U-M research will make it routine to diagnose autism for children just 18 months old and sometimes even younger. The intervention to be tested—the Early Start Denver Model—fuses developmental and relationship-based intervention techniques with applied behavior analysis teaching strategies. It focuses on using play and positive reciprocal interactions to teach a developmental curriculum designed for each child based on current abilities and interests. The individualized approach makes the model easy to adapt for younger children. A combination of the developmental curriculum, teaching techniques based on applied behavior analysis, and warm, engaging social exchanges between an adult and the child is used to achieve measurable treatment goals targeting affective connection, social relatedness and communication skills. "Development changes over time, and missing a particular marker or having one or more of the 'red flags' does not necessarily mean that a child has autism," said Rogers, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences with the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute. "However, it is beneficial to any child—whether or not he or she has autism—to receive help in catching up with missed or delayed developmental milestones." Children enrolled in the study will receive intensive, one-on-one intervention in their homes for more than 25 hours per week over two years, and caregivers will be instructed on how to deliver the intervention themselves. Results will be compared to children of the same age receiving standard community services to determine the efficacy of the Early Start Denver Model at measurably reducing some or much of the disability associated with autism. "There is very little published about the effectiveness of any intervention model for children in treatment earlier than age 2. However there are some very promising results from a feasibility study that is being conducted at the University of Washington," said Rogers. "With this new funding, we can broaden that study and truly provide a real test of the effectiveness of this type of interventional approach for very young children with autism." Together, the three study sites will recruit a total of 108 children approximately 12-24 months old who have symptoms of autism. Typical red flags in social communication skill development between the ages of 1 and 2 indicating that a child may have an autism spectrum disorder include: --Lack or loss of typical behaviors, such as pointing, playing with a variety of toys, responses to contextual cues, vocalizations with consonants. --The presence of atypical behaviors, such as repetitive movements with objects and/or repetitive movements or posturing of the body. --Unusual prosody (intonation and rhythm in speech). --Lack of pointing, showing and sharing objects with others. --Lack of appropriate gaze. --Lack of sharing interest or enjoyment. --Lack of response to name. --Lack of coordinating gestures, eye contact and vocalizations to communicate.

Source

Young Inventor: Sensory Wallpaper

Hannah Haas, 13, of Charlotte, N.C., used Bubble Wrap(R) cushioning to create wallpaper to engage and comfort children afflicted with autism, and was named the Grand Prize Winner in Sealed Air Corporation's second annual Bubble Wrap(R) Competition for Young Inventors. (Photo: Business Wire)


YAY Hannah!

GFCF Daily Recipe: Easy Fruit Smoothie

Easy Peasy Fruity Squeezy:

Fruit Smoothie

1 cup orange juice
1 cup milk substitute
1 cup frozen berries
1 banana

Blend until smooth.

Parent to Parent

Parent to Parent-USA (P2P-USA) is a national non-profit organization committed to assuring access and quality in Parent to Parent support across the country. This site highlights statewide organizations that have parent to parent support as a core program and are committed to implementing evidence-based practices.

About Parent to Parent - USA. Parent to Parent programs provide emotional and informational support to families of children who have special needs most notably by matching parents seeking support with an experienced, trained 'Support Parent'. (FAQ has detailed descriptions of Parent to Parent support.)

Parade: Is there Hope for Autism?

This Sunday's Parade has a cover story about Autism. Here is the link. Here is the one quote I found most poignant:

"Indeed, the road ahead for people with autism depends on the attitudes of the rest of us and our willingness to create opportunities for jobs, for education and for inclusion. “We know our son will always have challenges,” says Lisa Goring, “but we feel very fortunate that we found people who understood how to teach him. He’s different, but his friends absolutely accept him. He has a community.”

There is a section by Suzanne Wright, founder of Autism Speaks, called "Autism Changes Everything." This section I found less than inspiring. I know this organization has done a great deal, and gives hope to many people, but sometimes I think the word choices and attitudes are insensitive and off base. Here is an excerpt:

Some may view autism as the disease du jour, the cause of the moment. That trivializes what many are enduring. Families are literally going broke trying to provide their children with the services they deserve. Adults with autism are failing to meet their potential.

Our grief evolved into feelings of anger and, eventually, determination. We started a foundation called Autism Speaks and, working with thousands of remarkable parents, have brought this issue front and center. With the help of the United Nations, we are taking this effort global. This year, April 2 will be World Autism Awareness Day.

We’re now playing catch-up as we try to stem the tide and ultimately eradicate autism for the sake of future generations. If we continue our current trajectory, we’ll get there in my lifetime.

The word "eradicate" incited some heated responses on about.com: | comments (10)

What do you think?

Art Looking

A few years ago, I worked in the Metropolitan Musuem of Art's Education Department as a museum educator. I taught a program called Discoveries, which is a museum experience for individuals with Developmental Disabilities. Everyone has a unique and valid experience when looking at art, and the nature of these experiences, interpretations, and impressions truly fascinates me. While working at the museum, I decided to create a tool to enrich the art looking experience, called "Walking Into Pictures," and this first edition of the series features ten paintings from the Met's Modern and Contemporary collections. To download a free pdf copy, click here, and enjoy!*


*this is a personal project, not at all for sale or affiliated with the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Kermit: It's actually really easy being green!

To go green and support SOFT, click here.

Download the Soft LOOK BOOK

To download a copy of our LOOK BOOK, for our first collection, launching in December 2008, click here.

Todd Parr: Great Books for Teaching

Click here for our Todd Parr Shop!

Inspiration: Children's Book Illustrators

For more information on each of the illustrators work above, click the image.

GFCF Daily: COOKBOOK and other resources

The best kid-friendly recipes and guide to the gluten-free milk-free diet for ADHD and Autism.What it is. Why it works. How to do it.

The Centers for Disease Control reports significant increases in Autism and ADHD - both affecting primarily boys. The CDC estimates that 1 out of 175 children (age 4 to 17) currently have Autism (300,000). Before 1985, Autism occurred in less than 1 out of 2000. ADHD is much more common in that it affects 4.4 million U.S. children (age 4 to 17).

Common to both of these conditions is the negative impact of certain foods - especially milk products and glutens such as wheat(and to a lesser degree - soy and corn.) One of the challenges that parents face is coping with children who have picky appetites and crave the very foods that affect their behavior, focus and development. The other challenge is finding ways to get their children to eat healthy foods and improve their nutritional status.

The uniqueness of this book is that it not only provides gluten-free milk-free substitutes and recipes, it provides successful suggestions for feeding the picky eater. The authors share details about just how and why the diet works. The specialty ingredients are explained and extensive sources provided. There are also testimonials from the parents and from the children themselves.

More resources:

Here is an article of GFCF on a budget.


Here are some local GFCF support groups indexed by state and city.


For more recipes, cookbooks, and ready to eat GFCF foods, click here.

GFCF Daily Recipe: SNACK TIME!

Snack. An undeniably important part of childhood. And adulthood. Life in general. I am snacking as I am writing this.

Here are some Gluten-Free/Casein Free snack ideas:

Corn Chips
Fruit or Canned Fruit
Nuts (Make sure they are gluten-free. Planters are gf.)
Pancakes, waffles, crepes (see banana pancake recipe)
Popcorn (homemade is awesome!)
Raisins
Vegetables
GFCF rice bars or snack bars
Rice Milk, etc. and add flavorings to make it taste better or to get children to drink it.

To browse some more snacks, click here.

Don't forget to stop using plastic bags!

Really, it's the easiest thing you can do, and it has such a huge impact on the environment. SOFT has made it easier, and CHIC! Go green with the SOFT TEE TOTE bag. Our portion of the profit goes directly to funding our clothing line for children with sensory sensitivity. So basically, you are supporting 2 great causes at the same time!





Check out VOGUE magazine's Eco-Shopping Guide.

SOFT: Questionnaire for Professionals

Hello readers, If you are a professional in the field of Education/Special Education (the survey for parents and individuals with ASD/SPD is coming soon), please take a moment to read this post.

As you all know, SOFT is developing a line of clothing for children with sensory sensitivity, which is associated with Autism Spectrum Disorders, Sensory Processing Disorder, ADHD, and more. The adaptive design of the clothing is based on over a year of market research, which involved surveying parents and individuals with the above disorders, sourcing and testing fabrics, seaming, and more.

This survey is part of my continued attempt to provide accurate, helpful information to our future potential customers, and to make sure that our clothing design is based on the researched and experienced specific needs of sensory sensitive dressers. Your opinion, as a fellow professional in the field of education/special education, is especially valuable – as it is important to me that this project is much more than a store, but a valuable resource which is awareness generating, and above all –truly helpful to people. To help make this happen, I would like to be able to tap into the expertise of my colleagues around the world. Please take a moment to fill out the following survey:

SOFT Survey for Professionals.

Thank you so very much!


Love and comfort,

Jessica Elsas
SOFT

Media Alert: Autism in Girls tonight on ABC News

Tonight on "Nightline" at 11:35 p.m. ET

Brenda Myles, one of the lead researchers specializing in the quite narrow field of girls with autism, said autism can be more difficult to detect in girls. "Almost all the research is on boys," said Myles. "Well, first of all there are more boys than girls with autism spectrum disorders, but second of all, girls are underdiagnosed."

(footage will probably also be available from ABC NEWS online after the story airs, just in case you miss it, or you are like me and have no TV!

For more information on Autism in girls, click here.

Inspiration: La presse de mode enfantine

NYT: New ABC Series deals with Autism, Vaccines, and the Law

According to the NYT today:

"A new legal drama making its debut this month on ABC is stepping into a subject that is the source of heated debate among some parents — the relationship between autism and childhood vaccines — and seemingly coming down on the side that has been all but dismissed by prominent scientific organizations.

The drama, “Eli Stone,” scheduled to be broadcast at 10 p.m. on Jan. 31, centers on a lawyer who begins having visions that cause him to question his life’s work defending large corporations, including a pharmaceutical company that makes vaccines.

The title character of “Eli Stone,” adopting the message of his visions to fight for the little guy, takes his first case: suing his former client on behalf of the mother of an autistic child who believes a mercury-based preservative in a vaccine caused her son’s autism."

An interesting fact: Eli Lilly & Company, which developed thimerosal, and the two companies that now make the bulk of childhood vaccines used in the United States, GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi-Aventis, spent an estimated $138 million for advertising on ABC last year, though little to none of it was spent advertising vaccines.

GFCF Daily Recipe: Hummus!

Hummus Recipe

2 cups chickpeas, cooked or canned
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup tahini
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1/4 cup or more water
salt to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon paprika

1. Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Place in a blender or food processor with the lemon juice, tahini, and minced garlic. Blend well, adding water as needed to form a smooth paste. (Add less water to make a thicker hummus for sandwich spread.) Add salt to taste.

2. Scrape hummus into a covered container and refrigerate overnight or at least three hours before serving.

3. Remove hummus from refrigerator 1/2 hour before serving. Spread onto a shallow plate, swirling top with the back of a spoon. Drizzle olive oil and paprika over top.

4. Serve with pita, and/or raw vegetables for dipping.

For more recipes, cookbooks, and GFCF ready made foods and snacks, click here.

Go Green with the SOFT TOTE!

Go green with Soft! Use this tote instead of plastic bags to do your part for the environment, and to support our clothing line for kids with sensory sensitivity.

Whole Foods Market Inc. has expanded its ban on disposable plastic bags to include all of its 270 stores in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, including the two shops it runs in Central Ohio. The company said Tuesday its goal is to be plastic bag-free by Earth Day on April 22. San Francisco was the first city ever to ban plastic bags in exchange for recyclable or compostable sacks. Following restrictions on them introduced in 2007 in Hongkong, China has now introduced a ban and taxes to curb plastic bags, a blot on landscape that threatens health and causes floods. Using cloth totes instead of plastic was my new years resolution...so come on...join a national food chain, a large American city, China, and me...and say goodbye to plastic bags!

{As an added plus...tote bags are really chic. It's part of a craze called "eco-fashion." Decidedly non-bling simple canvas totes are the new it bag. Some have called it a "Tote Bag Revolution." The "Im Not A Plastic Bag" shopping tote by Anya Hindmarc was a total craze, and our tote is cuter, cheaper, and supports a great cause even in addition to the whole saving the environment part.

Too check out the first tote in our collection*, click here.



*soft will be changing tote styles weekly and posting new styles to the blog as they become available..meaning each style is a LIMITED EDITION! If you would like a custom design using one of our images, click here.

Get our WIDGET!

We're HIP!

YAY! Soft was featured today in the Peekaboo Picks Magazine blog! Thank you Kate (a hip mom) and thank you Megan of Peekaboo!

Love and comfort,

Soft