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The good news is that plenty of appropriate toys are available. A sampling is provided below. But first, some background. Toys enhance a disabled child's skills in sensory, motor, and cognitive development. It's actually quite important for children with disabilities to receive toys year-round, because physical disabilties can have a major impact on the motor systems of an infant or toddler, limiting a child's ability to reach, sit, stand, or even move at all. When you're toy-shopping for a child with a physical disability, make sure the product is simple to use and provides a clear cause-effect relationship that the child can see. It should have large buttons or other easy-to-use parts. And the toy should be action-oriented, attracting the child to focus his or her attention on it. This is especially important for a child whose sight or hearing is impaired, or for children with problems processing information. The toys listed below are designed for children from the age of 6 months to 12 years. But these toys are more aimed at skill levels than at age groups. So try to make sure the toy you choose matches both the disabled child's age and skill level. SIGHTS AND SOUNDS. Depending on whether they are totally deaf or hard of hearing, children with hearing impairments must be challenged to absorb environmental information to fully enjoy their toys. So in picking toys for these children, make sure the volume can be amplified if it's a product with a voice or generates noise. Both bright colors and lights increase sight and other sensory stimulation. Textured toys are great for children with hearing loss because the feel of the toy can heighten their appreciation. Children with visual impairments enjoy toys that are simple to operate, produce familiar sounds, have large, raised parts or other tactile textures and shapes. Also wonderful: toys that give off distinctive scents or provide auditory directions, vibrations, and noises. Bright, bold colors are important for children who are partially sighted. Mentally retarded children often enjoy activities involving sorting, counting, identifying, and planning. So toys that challenge them to engage and think are ideal. Some toys to consider for cognitively challenged children are clay and Play Dough, bubbles (to improve a child's visual tracking), finger-painting supplies, jumping games, ball games, cards, and play-fishing games. Visually impaired children, too, will enjoy playing cards with large numbers and letters. Over the years, I've looked at many toys for children with disabilities and offered my recommendations to manufacturers. Some of my top choices: Tangiball (It's colorful, has a vanilla scent, and a bumpy texture.) Kid Tough Tape Recorder (It has a large buttons in different colors.) Kick and Play Piano (Music and lights are activated when the child touches the piano.) 1-2-3 Roller Skates (Simple and great for developing eye-leg coordination.) Bristle Blocks (Interlocking building blocks that invite children to build different congifurations.) Pull N Pop Dome (By pulling the handle, bright bouncy balls pop out at the sound of a bell.) Tickle Me Elmo (Elmo talks when squeezed. Adults may hate it, but kids love it.) Gymnic Jinglin Ball (Four bells emit different sounds when the ball is in motion.) Shapes and Sound Box (Different sounds are emitted when geometric shapes slide down the tubes.) Piano and Animal Play Mart (By pushing on a bump, either a musical sound or an animal sound is heard.) Wait! There's more: Starter Scooter (So sturdy, it allows children with cochlear implants to ride a scooter.) Rhythm Band (Children with hearing impairments can learn the basics of speech duration, loudness, and pitch.) Lullaby Dream Show (This revolving night light projects colorful images of nursery-rhyme characters on the ceiling.) Play & Learn Drum (Beads inside the clear center drum jump and dance when the top is hit with a stick.) Kerplunk (Marbles tumble to the floor when a player withdraws the sticks upon which the marbles are balanced.) Hide Inside (It has five textured objects that can be hidden in the soft box. Each object is a different size and texture.) Sound and Sight Animal Puzzle (An animal is identifed with the sound it makes.) Simon (This toy emits sounds in conjunction with flashing lights.) Of course, plenty of generic toys on the market are also well-suited to children with disabilities: circus rings, walkie-talkies, talking dolls, puzzles, phonics-teaching products, electronic headsets, roller blades, talking trucks, talking telephones, musical instruments, talking calculators, voice-activated tape recorders, building blocks, checkers, Chinese checkers, and trains. Many of these toys provide skill-building in multiple areas. Consumers can also find plenty of info on the Web. Here are some of them: www.iphope.com; www.disabilityweb.com/children.htm and www.enablingdevices.com. The disabilityweb.com site provides a multiple list of catalogues with a variety of toys. And enablingdevices.com is world-famous for developing special toys for disabled children. Another excellent resource is The National Lekotek Center, which will select and adapt toys to each child's individual needs, according to marketing manager Sarah Pawveni. The center offers a Top Ten Toy Picks from the 1999 Guide for Differently Abled Kids. Its phone number is 800 366-PLAY. Its e-mail address is lekotek@lekotek.org. Toys 'R' Us has coordinated with Lekotek in developing the Guide for Differently Abled Kids, which lists more than 60 toys. For information on the guide, call 888 333-4108 or visit www.toysrus.com. You can also pick up the publication at any Toys 'R' Us store. Mattel.Com also carries information on toys for disabled children. It would be great if these sites were accessible to blind and visually impaired people. Alas, they're not. Because toy manufacturers recognize a market for disabled children, many tots will experience the joy of Christmas spirit. Receiving toys designed to meet their individual needs is a step forward in mainstreaming disabled children. Happy Holidays to everyone involved in this effort! Share your opinion of Bowe's new book on BW Online's Assistive Tech Forum. Or, if you have a question about assistive technology, write to John at JMMAW@aol.com EDITED BY DOUGLAS HARBRECHT |
