Using fabric to brighten your child's bedroom wall

We made Owen's room disability friendly a few years back. The walls looked plain and I wanted something bright on them to stimulate his vision and just brighten it. I didn't want to spend loads of money and wanted something a little different.

A large blank canvas can be quite expensive but I found some large canvas prints that Kmart were kicking out for $5.00 each. Then I bought some bright fabric (I picked some large quilting squares) from a fabric shop.  I positioned the fabric, ensuring I pulled it tightly and evenly, then used a staple gun to attach it to the back of the frame. 

The result? Cheap and bright and very Owen.  I've only shown you one but he has 4 in his room in all.

Another thing you could consider is buying lots of little off-cuts of fabric (or just use what you have in your sewing kit) and pull them firmly in embroidery hoops.  Tighten the hoop, then cut around the edges.  Hang on the wall. The last picture is the wall in Owen's Sensory room (there will be post about that room at a later stage).

Travel Bed Hack - $80 including mattress

Owen is 8.  He is capable of sitting up in bed, sits up and down like a yo-yo, moves around a lot and has no concept of the edge of his bed.   He would simply roll out of a bed even if the mattress was placed on the floor.  At home he is in a big cot like bed with a tent inside (there will be a post about this later).  This keeps him safe and stops him from falling out. I want to be able to travel as a family so I started to look at safe travel options. Here is what I have found some people use:

• The Safety Sleeper.  Looks awesome and very sturdy but unfortunately too expensive for us.
• The Nickel Bed.  Similar concept to the safety sleeper, doesn't look as sturdy and being much cheaper you would not expect it to be.  Probably would have been a good option for Owen but they don't post to Australia.
• The Sansbug pop up mosquito tent.  It's a pop up tent I know people use.  Looking at it I do imagine getting a mattress in and out could be an issue.  
• The Privacy pop tents.  You can get blackout ones or mosquito ones.  I am not sure one would be suitable strength wise for Owen and again getting a Mattress in and out could be an issue.

What did I come up with and use?

• An Oztrail Festival 2 person tent (fly discarded) set up on the floor in our holiday unit. I got the tent on special for $30.00 but have seen them as cheap as $20.00 in the past.
• I then lined the base with a queen size air mattress ($27.00 from Kmart).  I did not want any gaps between the mattress and the tent sides.
• Put on a fitted sheet (I already had that).
• Lastly, I blew it up with a electric pump (you can pick them up for less than $20.00 on ebay).

When we finished with it. I took off the sheet, deflated the mattress, folded up the poles and then with the mattress still in the tent, I rolled up the tent.  Finally the tent roll, pump and poles went in a folding camp chair bag, ready to unroll and inflate next time.  

Other notes..........

• Both set-up and take-down take about 10 minutes.
• It does take up a lot of floor space, so you need to be conscious of that, so probably not suitable for a hotel room. 
• The bed itself is a little noisy if the child moves a lot in their sleep.  
• Whilst I am not concerned from an Owen point of view, I did note it is not the strongest of tents, so I would not recommend it if your child tends to be destructive.
• We found we could not handle the bed in with us as Owen made too much noise in his sleep (not the bed but the noises he made in his sleep).  The second night we put him in the lounge room and it was fine.

The verdict.............HE SLEPT, he was SAFE and we will USE IT AGAIN :-)  


UPDATE 04/08/2015
I've had a few questions about the zip and how you could stop it from being accessible by the child. There are three zips that meet in the middle, so you could thread something through to lock it but whatever you use you need to make sure it is easy and quick to open in case of fire.

I have a couple of ideas:

• Thread through a reusable zip tie, you can get them for a few dollars from a hardware shop
• Use a kitchen cupboard baby lock like this the Dream Baby Ezy Check Flex-Loop Lock.

Hope this helps.  Good Luck

How to cope with not being invisible

I have started to describe Owen as a Lamborghini.  He must be.  Everyone stops to stare at Lamborghini’s and other fancy cars. After all you don’t see them every day do you? They are so rare and special you can’t help but notice them.  That’s Owen, he’s rare and special and people can’t help but notice him.  So he is a Lamborghini.

I'm the type of person who likes to blend in, not be the centre of attention.  So I've had to get used to the fact everyone remembers Owen and therefore me. This is not all bad.  The majority of people are lovely, asking how he is when he isn't with me.  Offering assistance if they can.  People often go out of their way to help Owen and I.  For that I am grateful.

When we go to the shops we get lots of stares and looks from the people who do not know us.  Let’s put the Lamborghini, oops Owen, into perspective.  He’s different, you don’t see kids like him every day.  He has a killer smile, makes loud (and at times unexpected) noises, doesn't play with age appropriate toys and is in a wheelchair.  Kids (OK adults too) are often curious, they can see  he is big (he is a tall 8) but developmentally he is a baby and they want to know why he isn't like them.  Some circle for another look. Some nearly run into posts as they aren't looking at where they are going (Ok maybe a couple of times, on a bad day, I’ve been secretly disappointed they haven’t).   I'm lucky Owen isn't bothered by it.  I can’t imagine how hard it would be if he was uncomfortable and I know that is a sad, hard fact for some families. 

I find most people aren't trying to be rude they just don’t know what to do or say when they come across kids like Owen.   How do I handle it? Do I ignore it?  Sometimes yes but for the most part I use a gentle approach and educate them.  I thought I would share how I handle things in case it helps you work out your own tactics.  Getting a handle on it makes outings so much more enjoyable and doable.  If your reading this and you don’t have a special needs child, maybe you can encourage your child to say hello if you notice them staring.

                                                                                           

With children I try and catch the eye of the child and smile at them.  If they are in front of me in the queue or circling us at the park,  I tell them they can say hello if they want and that he likes that.  I also explain that although he won’t say hello back he is listening to them.  I make sure the parent sees me and is aware of the conversation.  Most of them will take the cue  and encourage their kids to say hello to Owen.    If kids ask questions, I don’t take it as them being rude, I take it as an opportunity to help them understand kids like Owen.  I answer their questions with basic answers.  Some common ones are:

• Why is he in the wheelchair?  His legs don’t work very well and he can’t walk yet.
• Will he walk one day?  We hope so, he is trying to learn.
• Why is he still a baby?  His brain is a little bit different and doesn't work as well as yours and mine.
• Why?  Sometimes these things just happen, he was just made/born differently
• Will he talk?  We don’t know but he already lets us know what he wants.  I can tell he likes you and is listening to you.
• Can he see?  Yes, but not like you, his eyes work differently. Even though he isn't looking straight at you he is watching.
• I might also say, he loves other children and listening to them talk or watching them play.

It’s not just the kids that stare, adults do sometimes too.  They tend to be more subtle than kids.  They don’t circle us at the playground or run into posts ;-).  Again, I try and catch their eye and smile at them.  If they ask questions I answer them.  Sometimes with more detail.  Sometimes it might be a quick answer and move on quickly.  Some of them really suffer from foot in mouth disease.  Since I am not immune and have also suffered from its effects, I try and focus on what it was they were trying to convey rather than their words.

What should you do? It’s up to you and what you feel up to doing and what your child can handle.  Good luck.

                

Put a plug in your child's clam shell paddle pool

As Owen got older our bathroom became very inaccessible to him. We had a tiny shower, that one person could barely fit in and a bath that was very difficult to lift him and and out of. So we converted our bathroom and now have a wheelchair accessible shower but no bath. I was OK with that but Owen did love his bath, so every so often we would take his plastic clam shell in and fill it with the shower head, let him play in the water and empty it down the shower drain. 

I soon got frustrated with trying to tip the water down the drain. It would come out too fast and was extremely heavy to lift.  I decided I needed a plug in the base, somewhere, but I did not know how.  The organisation who helped us with the carseat swing, helped with this too.  Their handy man (BTW he is awesome)  put on his thinking cap and worked out how to put a plug in (and did it too). The plug could not go in the bottom, but it went in the side.  

 What you Need

• Clam shell style of paddle pool.
• Plastic Drain Plug (these are sourced from camping and boating stores).
• Water proof silicone.
• Drill and large drill bit.
• Hacksaw.

The How-to:

• Drill a hole so that the plug just fits, you want it to be tight.
• Push the drain through, if it has a screw attachment, screw that on.
• Cut any excess off the back of the plug.
• Silicone around the back of the plug on the outside of the pool.
• Leave for 24 hours to dry.

Now the pool won't empty completely when you pull the plug. When it gets near the bottom you will need to tilt the pool, I just place a container under it.

Owen uses his paddle pool on our veranda too!

Make your Laminator your friend

There can be a lot of people involved in the care of a special needs child. Owen is non verbal  and needs help feeding, so anyone looking after him needs to know what to feed him and when.  I vary what  and when I feed him. Activities he might enjoy can change on a daily basis (depending on his mood). Most service providers do have a booklet or something with instructions for their staff,  but I find it uses set times rather than fluid times, so I use this in conjunction with their requirements.  

I don't want to write or print a new list each time, so I print and laminate various lists, just cleaning them with a baby wipe and when dry, use a thin whiteboard marker to circle that day's selections.  Here is an example of how I set it up but you do what works for you.  You can leave lines to write messages.

Other lists you can do:

• School lunch:  You can create a school lunch box list, with a spot for school to mark how much your child has eaten.   If you do it small enough you can pop it in their lunch box. I used to tell them what order to serve the food and  temperature to have it.
• Labels for your cupboards ie where people can find bibs, towels, washers, which drawers have which item of the child's clothing (handy if someone offers to help with your washing).
• Shower/bath instructions such as wash hair, dress in summer/winter pjs, brush teeth etc.
• Chore lists for more able children.

Happy laminating :-)