There are so many families out there that need great equipment for their sensory kids. Pillowfort materials are on sale at Target, one of my favorite big box stores. The items are affordable and stylish. But are they what you really need? In order to get the products that serve your child’s needs, you may want to think beyond color and style. The key to good equipment is having a big picture plan. The wrong item for the wrong kid is worse than not hitting “send”.
Some good examples are their crash pad and their chair. If you have a sensory-seeking kid, you know what abuse your couch and bed can take. Kids tend to dive bomb them and little by little, destroy them. Pillowfort will sell you a nice crash pad, and they use a smiling child lying prone on one of their pads in their display on Target.com.
You might want to look at the dimensions. In my professional experience, most of my clients are looking for way more square footage to crash into. And when they are dysregulated, which is often, they aren’t going to be able to land squarely on such a small pad. Therapists use pad the size of a thick full mattress in their clinics for a reason. We are all safety, all the time. And we know what works to keep kids from cracking their heads on the floor.
Their rocking desk chair is another nice chair that will serve a small number of kids. It looks pretty sturdy, but the big sensory seekers can wear out hinges really easily. A chair that rocks is a chair that can become tippy with the right (or wrong) user. Choose this chair only if you have a child that isn’t one of THOSE kids.
There are other choices for kids that seek movement, and they aren’t chairs. They are sensory diets, created by therapists with years of experience in evaluating and treating your child. Your OTR can give you simple activities you can do at home that target your child’s needs. I just taught a family how to do a vestibular input activity through telehealth. We can help you! Read Sensory Stimulation is not Sensory Treatment and Halloween With Sensory Sensitive Kids: The (Sensory) Tricks of the Holiday for more information on how Good OT treatment can help your child.
Looking for information to help your hypermobile child with Down syndrome, Prader-Willi syndrome, or Ehlers-Danlos syndrome?
I wrote 2 books for you!
The JointSmart Child: Living and Thriving With Hypermobility Volume One: The Early Years and Volume Two: The School Years are now available on Amazon as paperbacks as well as read-only downloads, and at Your Therapy Source as printable and click-able downloads!
These books answer all the questions you want to ask about finding the right high chairs, clothes, toilet seats, bikes, desk chairs and even which crayons and pencils help your hypermobile child make faster progress. It has checklists and forms to help you communicate with your babysitters, your child’s teachers, even forms to improve your appointments with doctors.
The chapters on communication with family and professionals give you practical ideas to improve your family’s understanding of how your child’s hypermobility impacts life. They guide you to speak with clear messaging that gets results when you are in IEP meetings, doctor and therapy appointments.
It is time to start feeling more confident and empowered!
