Friday, February 29, 2008
Resources on Tactile Defensiveness
In doing research for my lesson plans this week, I came across this great selection of articles and web resources on Tactile defensiveness on neurodiversity.com. The articles are downloadable in pdf format.
http://neurodiversity.com/tactile.html
If you are unsure whether you or your child experience tactile defensiveness, here is a helpful article on the signs and symptoms.
NYT: The Language of Autism
This video, created by 27 year old Amanda Baggs, who has Autism, was featured yesterday on the NYT Well Blog, written by Tara Parker Hope. The video is called "In My Language," and is a compelling glimpse inside Amanda's mind, language and experience with the world. Especially interesting is her way of communicating through all of her senses with her immediate environment. In the first three minutes of the video, we see her rocking back and forth, waving paper in the air, burying her face in a book, flapping her hands in the air, and more. She goes on, in the second half of the video, to explain eloquently (via computerized voice) how her actions are communicative. Here is an excerpt from the video:
"My language is not about designing words or even visual symbols for people to interpret. It is about being in a constant conversation with every aspect of my environment, reacting physically to all parts of my surroundings.
Far from being purposeless, the way that I move is an ongoing response to what is around me….The way I naturally think and respond to things looks and feels so different from standard concepts or even visualization that some people do not consider it thought at all. But it is a way of thinking in its own right."
To read the blog and reader comments, click here.
To read the WIRED article about Amanda, click here.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
GFCF Diet should be carefully designed
From a recent NIH study:
"Thin Bones Seen In Boys with Autism and Autism Spectrum Disorder
Results of an early study suggest that dairy-free diets and unconventional food preferences could put boys with autism and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at higher than normal risk for thinner, less dense bones when compared to a group of boys the same age who do not have autism.
The study, by researchers from the National Institutes of Health and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, was published online in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.
The researchers believe that boys with autism and ASD are at risk for poor bone development for a number of reasons. These factors are lack of exercise, a reluctance to eat a varied diet, lack of vitamin D, digestive problems, and diets that exclude casein, a protein found in milk and milk products. Dairy products provide a significant source of calcium and vitamin D. Casein-free diets are a controversial treatment thought by some to lessen the symptoms of autism."
To read the full study, click here.
To read the comments and responses to this study on About.com, click here.
For resources on carefully designing a proper and nutritious GFCF diet, click here.
Vote for the Faces of Autism Website
1 in 150 Children today has Autism. 1 in 66 Boys today has Autism. Those numbers are staggering, but just what does 1 in 150 look like? Who are the faces behind the numbers? TheFacesofAutism.com is designed for parents to tell their child's story. Parents will get the opportunity to upload a head shot photo of their child, and fill out basic information about their child's diagnosis,symptoms, treatment plan, etc. This website will give faces to those nameless numbers. TheFacesofAutism.com will make these children impossible to ignore.
This great idea has a chance to win $10,000 in start-up funds from ideablob.com. Please take a few moments to vote for this important idea today at:
http://ideablob.com/ideas/1290-The-Faces-of-Autism-Website
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Learn the Early Signs of Autism
(picture from the Autism Speaks website)
There is very little consensus in the field of Autism, but one thing that most parents, professionals, and organizations can agree on, is that the earlier Autism is diagnosed, and the earlier treatment begins, the better the chances are for meaningful inclusion in schools, community, family and society. Below are some collected web resources to help parents identify the early signs of Autism.
Autism Speaks
Center for Disease Control
WebMD
National Institutes of Health
Helpguide.org
For helpful books on Autism from our Sensory Shop, click here.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Download New Soft Look Book
The final look book is here...with 6 looks from the first SOFT collection. Download and show to your friends, email to your network, and get people as excited as we are about our collection, launching in December 2008, for children with sensitivity to clothing!
Click here for the download site, then click on the document to begin the PDF download.
Daily Clothing Struggles
Here at Soft, we hope to bring families together who struggle to find clothing for their sensory sensitive children. We want to provide a forum for discussion and support, as well as eventually (DECEMBER 2008!) a clothing line to meet the unique needs of this population.
Here is a story from the SPD Help Line, which is a great resource if you have not already checked it out:
by Angela
(Atlanta, GA)
Let me first start by saying all her clothing is soft cotton knit, no buttons, snaps, zippers... and very loose. Still --- it needs to be 'stretched' every morning... and even then it's still to tight if it touches her. I've explained that clothing has to touch or it will fall off. I'm beginning to think that the loose clothing rubbing against her actually is more problematic than if it were actually 'fitted', but she won't wear anything fitted.
Getting dressed in the morning sometimes takes over an hour and leads us both to exhaustion and fights (I know that I need to find a better way). We also have sock and shoe issues (and she can only wear one pair of shoes -- but she's almost grown out of those.) Knit, yoga, fold over waist, flowy type of gaucho pants seem to do the best but are hard to find. I have a hard time with shirts (the sleeves), panties, socks, and shoes.
Any suggestions??? Either for clothes, or ideas on how to help her not have so much pain when dressing? She literally screams and says that she feels like she is burning, and being squeezed. I'm so exhausted, and now my 2 year old is imitating the behavior. "
For the Help Line's response, click here.
Autism & PDD: Concept Development - Clothing
Children with autism learn more easily when information is presented in a simple, visual format. If pictures are constant and presented repeatedly, the child with autism learns and retains information. Autism & PDD: Concept Development - Clothing is written and designed for this unique population of students.
Benefits
- Teaches critical concepts and vocabulary for these 10 clothing items:
shirt pants and shorts skirt dress coat shoes socks hat mittens and gloves pajamas and nightgowns - Improves vocabulary and concept knowledge including:
category physical characteristics function location
For more info, click here.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Autism Network for Dietary Intervention
A great reference for those considering the "Autism Diet":
Current research shows that many cases of autism result from an immune-system dysfunction that affects the body's ability to break down certain proteins and combat yeasts and bacteria.
Many parents are convinced of the validity of dietary intervention for autistic individuals, but do not have the resources to try it themselves, especially those with picky eaters and skeptical spouses.
ANDI was established by parent researchers, Lisa Lewis and Karyn Seroussi, to help families around the world get started on, and maintain an appropriate diet. The ANDI mission is simple:
To help parents understand, implement and maintain dietary intervention for their autistic children.
Soft is global.
This morning I noticed that our recent visitor map had logged visitors from every continent (except Antarctica). This is truly a global issue. People worldwide have been contacting us with their stories and feedback on our clothing and our mission. Many of you have contributed to our fund to get this important social enterprise off the ground. Your support is inspiring, and we thank you! We are still, however far from our fundraising goal. If you have not yet contributed (any amount starting at $1), please take a minute to do so now. If you would like more information on other ways to support Soft, including becoming a partner-investor, click here to read our support page. Soft is global. Help is on the way! Click below to make a donation via PayPal, and we will add your name to our Giving Trees
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Gluten Solutions
For those looking for a one stop shop for their Gluten free-Casein free diet needs, this seems like the place. It's user friendly, and Autism Diet aware. They claim to "offer the broadest selection of hard-to-find gluten-free foods you won't find anywhere else." Gluten-free diets are for people with:
Friday, February 22, 2008
Support this Social Enterprise
Here at SOFT, we are a small start-up, with big ideas. In order to get those big ideas off the ground, we are seeking serious funding. We believe that what we are trying to do will help millions of children and families all over the world. We are a social enterprise -- a for profit with a double bottom line that includes not only profit to keep us going, but a larger social mission as well. While we are actively applying for grants and seeking out serious partner-investors, we are asking for donations to cover the costs of our market research, which fuels our product development. We base every stitch of our designs on the comments, feedback, and stories we have received from people all over the world who struggle with issues of sensory sensitivity and finding clothing that they both can and want to wear. No donation is too small, and our online PayPal system only takes about two minutes. You do not need a PayPal account to make a donation, you simply need a bank account. When you have made your donation, your name will be added to our "giving trees", and your good deed will be done for the day, week, or year!
Click the "Donate" button below, or read our SUPPORT page for more info.
If you want ideas for how much to give and what your donation will specifically fund, click here.
If donations are not your speed, here are two other ways you can support our development:
Shop hand-picked learning materials in the SOFT Sensory Shop.
Go green! with the Soft Tote!
(SOFT gets a small commission for every purchase you make)
Technology for children with disabilities
Communication is such an important key to learning. Through the acquisition of language and speech, children not only learn academic skills but learn to build social relationships and meaningful connections to people and their environment. For many children, speech is difficult or seemingly impossible. Laureate Learning System has developed theory based software programs to teach speech and language to children and adults for whom speech and language is not acquired naturally, or is somehow lost due, for example, to Traumatic Brain Injury. Click here to read more about their Autism Software pack.
NPR: Old-Fashioned Play Builds Serious Skills
"It's interesting to me that when we talk about play today, the first thing that comes to mind are toys," says Chudacoff. "Whereas when I would think of play in the 19th century, I would think of activity rather than an object."Chudacoff's recently published history of child's play argues that for most of human history what children did when they played was roam in packs large or small, more or less unsupervised, and engage in freewheeling imaginative play. They were pirates and princesses, aristocrats and action heroes. Basically, says Chudacoff, they spent most of their time doing what looked like nothing much at all.
"They improvised play, whether it was in the outdoors… or whether it was on a street corner or somebody's back yard," Chudacoff says. "They improvised their own play; they regulated their play; they made up their own rules."
But during the second half of the 20th century, Chudacoff argues, play changed radically. Instead of spending their time in autonomous shifting make-believe, children were supplied with ever more specific toys for play and predetermined scripts. Essentially, instead of playing pirate with a tree branch they played Star Wars with a toy light saber. Chudacoff calls this the commercialization and co-optation of child's play — a trend which begins to shrink the size of children's imaginative space.
To listen to the full story from NPR.com, click here.
For this and other books and resources on play for children with special needs, click here to browse the Soft Sensory Shop.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Inspiration: Foldschool
"Foldschool" is a collection of free cardboard furniture for kids, handmade by you. The downloadable patterns can be printed out with any printer. Follow the instructions and assemble a stable piece of furniture.
I just love their designs and the whole concept. Its so creative and I like the idea of sharing something like this for free. I think kids would love to use furniture that they helped create, and the cardboard provides a blank canvas for all types of creativity.
For more info, check out their website at www.foldschool.com.
