BODY SOX??? I Want One!!!

I found this very cool new thing, it is called a body sox. My daughter has Ataxia so deep pressure and body awareness is always something that we struggle with. My little girl would have a BLAST playing in one of these.....well actually my family is just crazy enough that we would ALL be playing in these (in the secrecy of our own yard :) ) I think it would be fun to play the dance freeze game!!! LOL



I found Terri Mauro's write up about Body Sox and she has given us five great ways to use Body Sox.

Body Sox are colorful bags made of a stretchy, see-through, breathable fabric. They have a long slit on one side that makes it easy for your child to get in and out. Exploring the boundaries of the bag provides comforting deep pressure and awareness of body position for your child. Besides the fun of exploring the boundaries of the bag, your child may find it very calming to have the world shut out for a while. Here are five things to do with that bag, for starters. You can order one through the equipment catalogs on the list of Sensory Integration Tools and Toys.
1. Have your child stand inside it and push against the sides with his hands, or lay down and push with his feet.
2. Start your child off in the bag when making him into a burrito.
3. Let your child walk or crawl around, with your support and protection.
4. Play a "dance and freeze" game, and take pictures of the funny positions your child winds up in.
5. Use it as a calm retreat when your child is in sensory overload.

For more info about this...follow the link

http://specialchildren.about.com/od/sensorystrategies/qt/bodysox.htm

FREE THERAPY....Bubble Blowing

My daughter doesn't speak yet and "lip rounding" is VERY challenging for her. We have used bubble blowing therapy for several years. We never realized that blowing bubbles was so therapeutic! Take some time, have some fun and blow bubbles....its FREE!

I found this great website that offers a recipe for making your own bubbles, I use some scented dish soap so for scented bubbles....have fun!

http://www.cerebralpalsy.org/category/treatment-and-therapy-news/

#1 on the list of free therapy- Blowing Bubbles!

Yes, this is one of the most effective things you can to to develop muscles needed for speech. You use the same muscles to blow bubbles as you do to form sounds in speech.

Here is cheap and easy bubble recipe :
Bubble Recipe1/2 cup of dish washing liquid (Dawn or Joy)
2 cups of water2 teaspoons of sugar
Add your choice of food coloring if you like.

Here is more information about cerebral palsy therapies.

The Morgan Project

As a parent of a special needs child I KNOW how expensive it is. We have had our share of medical equipment, medication, Doctors and specialists....UGH...it is extremely exhausting. I am always looking for ways to help. In doing some research I ran across The Morgan Project. I haven't actually used them yet, mostly because I just found them, but this looks like an exception program. Even if you don't need the money or have a special needs child....this is a great program to donate to. The Morgan Project is a 501(c)(3)non-profit organization. If this GREAT cause can help even one special needs child or parent....it is worth passing along!

You can find out more about them by going to www.themorganproject.com. Here is a little bit about their "mission"~

"Working together to promote awareness and support of parents caring for their special-needs children, and to enhance the quality of life for these special families."

Our Mission is to provide support to parents/caregivers and act as a reference source for information, financial resources, used equipment exchanges, research and clinical studies, support groups, web links, etc. This will be done in the form of creating an interactive website, and monthly newsletters.

To try to consolidate, and then disseminate, all the available information tools available to caregivers, from sources such as the Internet, newsletters, parenting organizations, support groups, etc. There is a lot of information out there, but it takes so much time to search for it that most caregivers just don’t have the time to spare to look for needed assistance on their own. We would like to put together a newsletter that would be a source of information for parents/caregivers to help them help their children.

To make small individual grants (products & services only) to parents/caregivers of special children for travel expenses to attend medical conferences that they would not otherwise be able to afford to attend. No parent/caregiver, or their family for that matter, should have to “bleed” in order to give their child the opportunity to be evaluated by experts, and to seek the support of other families in the same situation.

To make small individual grants (products & services only) to parents/caregivers of special children, for things like positional seating, adaptive car seats, durable medical equipment not covered by Medicaid or Insurance, and other non-covered items that would make caring for these children easier on the parent/caregiver and help to improve their quality of life.

PRIMARY GOAL

Our primary goal right now is to aggressively seek corporate sponsors, large donors and dedicated volunteers in order to become a viable organization, make valuable connections & tap resources in our community, and to continue to raise funds in order to provide the goals of The M.O.R.G.A.N. Project.