Sensory toys and shopping tips for the holiday season

‘Tis the season for toys, and Santa and his elves are working overtime to make sure children are happy this time of year. And that includes kids with autism!

To lend him and all those parents out there a hand this holiday season, we’ve put together this short blog to help you find just the right toys for your little one with autism.

 

Why toys?

When children are playing and having fun, they’re also learning. That’s why ABA therapy – the gold standard in autism care – uses toys and engaging activities to help children with autism and other developmental delays learn a variety of essential skills, including how to communicate, navigate social situations, use their hands and body, and achieve in the classroom.

In addition to helping children learn, toys can also be used to comfort children with autism, providing therapeutic relief in times of stress or anxiety, and as positive reinforcement to reward children’s efforts when learning something new or any behavior that you want them to keep doing over and over again.

 

What are sensory toys?

All toys are sensory toys in that they engage one or more of a child’s senses as they interact with them. However, some toys are categorized as Sensory Toys because they are known to be particularly fun and helpful for kids with autism.

Children with autism have delicate sensory systems. Some children can get overwhelmed by sensory input, like bright lights or loud sounds. On the other hand, sometime children will seek out sensory experiences because they aren’t getting enough sensory input from their environment. It’s common for children with autism to experience both forms of sensitivity.

Sensory toys help children with autism develop and expand their sensory processing abilities in a way that doesn’t overwhelm them or give them stress. If you introduce your child to a toy that you think they may be sensitive to, be sure to reward and praise them to create a positive environment when they first begin interacting with the toy.

Here are a few examples of how sensory toys can benefit kids with autism:

  • Many sensory toys are meant to be touched, squeezed, and pulled, providing children with tactile stimulation as well as building strength and dexterity in their hands.
  • Some sensory toys engage children’s sense of hearing by playing music or interesting sounds that can help them develop their language skills.
  • Other sensory toys are brightly colored and have motion to provide stimulation for the eyes and a child’s cognitive abilities.

There are also sensory toys that can stimulate a child’s sense of smell, taste, body awareness, balance, direction, and position!

 

How to shop for toys?  

The key to buying toys for a child with autism is to shop according to their interests, sensitivities, and where they are developmentally, instead of only by their age or gender. There are many “Best” lists online that will provide you with recommendations based on various criteria, for example, toys for children who are non-verbal or are prone to stimming (repetitive behaviors that comfort or release energy).

 

Here are a few lists that could help help spark some ideas for your child:

 

What is the very best gift for a child with autism?

It won’t fit in a box or under the Christmas tree, but the very best gift for a child with autism is a brighter future through early intervention ABA therapy. “Research shows that early diagnosis of and interventions for autism are more likely to have major long-term positive effects on symptoms and later skills,” according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Children as young as two can benefit from ABA therapy, when their brains are like sponges, forming important connections with the world around them. Autism makes it difficult for children with autism to make some of those connections, and that’s where ABA therapy makes all the difference.

The “wait and see” approach means your child is missing out on a critical time of their development that will impact their future. For the best outcome for your child, please contact an accredited ABA therapy provider in your area now to learn more and start the enrollment process.

Our expert, experienced, and caring team here at The Behavior Exchange would love to be of assistance if you happen to live in North Texas or the greater Boulder area in Colorado. Call our main number at 972. 312.8733 or email us at buddy@behaviorexchange.com to get started.

If you call us now before the end of the year, we’ll do our best to wrap up the enrollment process and insurance approvals so your child can start the New Year off with a bang. That’s our gift to you.

Happy Holidays!

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Ashvina attended University of Bombay and graduated with a Bachelors of Commerce. She got her Montessori Diploma in 1985 and taught ever since. Ashvina came to TBE in January of 2016 as Admin Assistant. During the years she got the opportunity to learn and work in different departments such as HR, Finance, Office Manager and Executive Assistant. Last summer TBE bought billing in house and her current focus area is Revenue Cycle Management. She is detail oriented and enjoys working with people. Ashvina volunteers to deliver meals to seniors and local shelters on the weekend. She loves to spend time with her family and grandkids. Ashvina loves her job because she enjoys hearing different points of view, and she feels her contributions help fuel the direction of our company.

Working with children comes naturally to Angela. Her mom was a special education teacher for 30 years and often had Angela join her for Take Your Child to Work Day. And in high school, Angela spent every summer as the nanny for a little boy with an autism spectrum disorder. It was this experience where her passion for working with children with autism started to blossom.

From there, she went on to graduate from Oklahoma State University with a Bachelor of Science in Human Development and Family Sciences. She learned about Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) in a non-normative development class and from that moment knew that ABA would be her life’s work.

Angela moved to the DFW area shortly after and began working at The Behavior Exchange as a therapist. She worked on her Master’s in Behavior Analysis at the same time. A year after graduating, she earned certification as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst.

Now, as a Clinical Director at The Behavior Exchange, she brings a life-long passion to her work, holding a special place in her heart for children with limited language skills and working closely with families to develop healthy sleep habits.

Danielle’s passion for working with families is deeply personal and from the heart. Her younger brother has an autism spectrum disorder, and through their journey as a family, she found her purpose in life as an advocate for individuals with special needs.

After graduating from the University of North Texas with a degree in Human Development and Family Studies, Danielle began volunteering at The Behavior Exchange. She saw passionate therapists, meaningful change for clients, and families with hope for the future. After a summer of volunteering, she officially joined the team as Director of Admissions and found her home with The Behavior Exchange family.

With her extensive experience working as a client advocate with insurance providers, Danielle perseveres to help individuals of all ages and abilities receive the services they need to reach their full potential. She feels truly honored by each and every family who entrusts The Behavior Exchange to be part of their journey and is committed to the organization’s core values, mission, and goal of being a beacon of hope for the community.

Adam has always had a passion for helping individuals of all ages thrive and reach their full potential. He’s also an enthusiastic musician, songwriter, leader, and devoted family man, who has been helping children and team members grow with The Behavior Exchange since 2010.

Prior to joining the team at The Behavior Exchange, Adam was a mortgage loan consultant and grad student, pursuing his master’s degree in Education at the University of North Texas. He graduated in 2013 and also earned a graduate academic certificate in Autism Intervention. The following year, after years as a Behavior Therapist and seeing first-hand the power of ABA and the meaningful impact it can have on children and their families, Adam became a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. He then commenced from the Stagen Leadership Academy after completing the Integral Leadership Program (ILP), a 52-week practice-based program designed to develop executives serious about transforming themselves, their teams, and their organizations.

Adam is truly grateful to be a part of a dynamic, inspiring and compassionate team, and he’s dedicated to bettering the lives of all children and their families through the delivery of the highest quality of ABA services, while supporting the amazing team at The Behavior Exchange.

Soraya is from South Africa and moved to Texas in 1996. She graduated from The University of Texas and pursued a career, at that time, in Education. Soraya taught at a Montessori school for a few years and then took on a leadership role.

During her time in the education system, Soraya realized her passion was to assist children with special needs. So she joined The Behavior Exchange as a therapist, transitioned into a supervisory role in 2017, and a year and a half later, was promoted to Clinical Operations Manager.

She quickly learned the ins and outs of ABA operations and scheduling and successfully collaborates across departments to ensure The Behavior Exchange continues to provide quality services to clients and their families. She’s thankful to be part of such an amazing organization and excited to see what the future holds.

You could say Walter’s career started when he spent hours as a young child drawing superheroes and coloring maps. This passion, along with extraordinary swimming skills, landed him a full swimming scholarship at Texas Christian University, where he graduated in 1997 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communication Graphics.

During the next 13 years, his design and art direction skills, conceptual-thinking abilities, and marketing-savvy know-how were honed at a few prestigious advertising and marketing agencies around the Dallas area. In the mid 2000s, he helped his wife Tammy Cline-Soza (founder and CEO of The Behavior Exchange) create a unique and concise brand for her new business. From logos and websites to uniforms, brand voice and visuals, Walter has been the main creative force for all things The Behavior Exchange.

Aside from giving birth to The Behavior Exchange brand, Walter is helping Tammy raise two amazing, beautiful children, River and Sierra. In his spare time (the two minutes he’s got per week), you can find Walter illustrating iconic landmarks of Dallas and Texas or looking around for this next open-water swim. Once he gets back in shape.

After 20 years of building The Behavior Exchange, literally from the ground up,
Tammy couldn’t be more proud of the team, culture, and organization that it has become.

As a family helping families, The Behavior Exchanges looks for opportunities that will make the biggest impact and produce life-changing outcomes – for clients, families, and even for team members. Tammy believes that if a team, a family, a community takes care of each other, the possibilities are endless and the relationships built along the way can make life more enriching and challenges easier to navigate. You could say her goal has been to build a kind of utopia full of support, love, and expertise that brings the best services possible to the community and ensures more families have access to those services.

Tammy and her family have dedicated their lives to the mission of The Behavior Exchange and continue to grow, learn, cultivate, challenge, support, and create better models for success. To that end, she is committed to her own leadership development and actively participates in advanced training, mentoring, and deep self-exploration on how to live out her purpose to love and support her family and help others reach their full potential. She takes her position very seriously and tries to serve as a channel for what the universe wants to come to fruition.

She also loves travel, gardening, being creative, MUSIC!, tennis, yoga, meditation, journaling, reading, being in nature, adventures, and more than anything, spending time with her husband Walter and their two beautiful children, River and Sierra.