In some parts of the United States, school has already begun. Elsewhere, teachers, parents and students are preparing to head back to their classrooms.
If you’re a parent with a child in occupational, speech or physical therapy or a teacher or clinician working with students who learn differently, you’re probably thinking about how to create the best educational environment for your child, student or client this year. Enabling Devices is thinking about that too. We’ve updated our Adapted Therapeutic Learning—Skills Development Chart to reflect new products as well as tried-and-true toys and educational products, designed to help children find success in school.
The chart comprises 19 areas of skill development and shows which of those skills different Enabling Devices products address. It also defines learning skills for customers who aren’t teachers and therapists and may not be familiar with terms related to skill development. For example, the chart explains that toys that address directionality teach children about moving forward, backward, right, left, up or down, while toys that address cause-and-effect, teach children that particular actions create particular responses. In sum, this resource takes the guesswork out of choosing toys and educational products for children with special learning needs.
For example, if you’re looking for something to help children learn about simple cause-and-effect, increase eye hand coordination, and improve fine motor coordination, then our Sound Puzzles would be a good choice. Like all our toys, it’s also entertaining, so kids will enjoy learning.
Or if you are looking for something that increases visual attention and tracking, sensory awareness, auditory development, and listening skills, our Tic-Tac-Toe game might be exactly what you need.
The Compact Activity Center is a popular choice for parents, teachers and clinicians looking for a device that helps with finger isolation, increases tactile stimulation, and encourages reaching, swiping and grasping.
Planning to create a sensory space in your home or classroom? The chart includes many of the toys and devices you will need, including Somatosensory Tubes; Twirling Bead Chain; and our Disco Ball.
We hope the updated chart will help you to choose the best products for your special learners. Yet as always, Enabling Devices staff members are more than happy to speak with you about your students and their individual learning needs. We are available to provide advice about creating a sensory learning space, and to provide counsel from a dedicated occupational therapy consultant. We can also provide advice for classroom bundles such as our kit for the visually impaired; and our autism spectrum disorder kit. Please don’t hesitate to reach out for help. Talking with parents, teachers, and clinicians is one of the best parts of our job!
