New Therapy Toys continued.....

Previously, I have mentioned that a few family members donated some money to Ethan & his needs, thus allowing us to purchase several of our items on Ethan's Therapy Aids Wish List. Here are the last items that we were able to provide to Ethan.....

This book is actually for Corey. He & some other computer programmers are currently working on developing "social stories" for the iPad2. Many of the apps that would be extremely helpful to children with autism are extremely pricey. So, Corey's goal is to make these apps available for free. So this is part of his development research.

I think the title is pretty self-explanatory as to why we purchased this book. I'm really hoping it helps us with this issue.

This was the most expensive item, but the one we wanted the most. As part of Ethan's Sensory Diet, we know that jumping on this trampoline followed by some heavy work or weighted items helps to keep him calm & his attention span extended for a couple of hours. This is now part of our morning routine before we go to school, we use it before church, and, honestly, he uses it when he knows he needs it....and he doesn't need an adult to help him like he would with brushing, joint compressions, kid sandwich, etc.  And the other kids I babysit love it too!

This picture is a little blurry because it was IMPOSSIBLE to have him just stand on it! After all, you are supposed to jump on the trampoline! I love it, and more importantly, so does Ethan.

If you think you are looking at a rubber chicken, then you would be correct. The girls in my family met my aunt & cousins for a day of shopping in St. Louis, and one of my cousins bought this for Ethan. It has now become one of his favorite portable tactile toys. It is made of a flexible yet soft rubber, and the body of the chicken has a rice-like filling that he can push, pull, massage, etc....similar to playing with play-dough. In fact, the other day, instead of using his fingers to manipulate the iPad2, he was using the chicken's beak...I don't know if it actually worked, but it was super cute to watch. He loves it!

We actually saw this at Ethan's school. It is awesome! This is a felt bag filled with the soft, rounded, plastic, weighted pellets that I put in his weighed blanket as well as tiny little toy-type items. It's an "Eye Spy" bag. So, we try to find all of the animals, all of the green items, all of the things that start with "Z" (only 1 thing does by the way). This is kind of heavy to be a portable item, but it works great for us in the car. He has something weighted, and we can play this while I'm driving...I just say, "Can you find the flower?", and he does. It's awesome. I think I may even try to make some of these on my own. They have all kinds of "themed" bags, but this one is their Language Development bag. Wonder why we chose this one?

 So, again, HUGE thank you to everyone for helping us raise money for the 2 boys to have their iPad2s, protective casings, and stylus. And thanks to those family members who donated money specifically to Ethan. You know, I realize that you weren't just donating money.....you are wanting to help Ethan. And that is what touches my heart. It's difficult to help anyone from a distance...whether that be geographically or relationally or lack of time or whatever.

I have several friends who recently have had babies. My intentions were to make them a home made meal & take it to their house. What I ended up doing was writing & mailing them a congratulations card along with a gift card for a restaurant. I want them to know that I love them & want to help them, but as we all know, time & schedule & LIFE just doesn't always allow for these things. So please hear me when I say that we are SO blessed & humbled & thankful for your extreme generosity....no matter what the gift....charitable donations, encouraging emails, prayers for Ethan, support system, and..............blog reader!