Sensory Room on a budget

I have created a Sensory Room for Owen.  I home-school him so a place he can chill out and experience different sensations is a wonderful resource.  A sensory room does not need to be expensive, in fact many of the things I used in ours were gifts Owen had received and other items I already had.  It was (like all my projects) a gradual process.  If you are planning one, with Christmas coming, put the word out for some of the cheaper items below as potential gifts.  I have put links for some of the items (so you see what they look like and where to get them from).  I can't promise these places are the cheapest though and they may not be where Owen's came from.  It is purely a guide for you.

Here are the items in the room:

• Old coffee table with old child gates attached with zip ties to it (so Owen can't get to the cords or power points).
• Old queen sized mattress with mattress protector an quilt and a nice fluffy blanket he had already been given.
• Old bean bag.
• I got an hanging egg chair  and frame from Aldi last year when they sold them.  It was less than $200.00.  
• Bubble tube from Sensamart (I got it when it was on special for $99.00 but they are around $145 now). They are lightweight and easy to tip so you have to create some sort of  plinth to stop a child knocking it over.  I used a old sturdy drawer that I sat upside down, with the drawer front cut shorter to make it even and a hole drilled for the bubble tube and power cord (see photo).  I then put some old pillows around it and an old satin sheet.  You will see from the picture collage I used some mirrors I picked up from Spotlight for $5 to accentuate the effect.UPDATE 25/02/2016. the cheaper tubes are getting harder to get but try searching for "novelty bubble fish lamp" and the cheaper style come up.

• Various lights (heaps of people buy these as gifts for Owen).  Here are some ideas.
• Kaleidoscope (small battery operated), you can get them from ebay, smiggle ($25) and Aust Geographic ($20.00)
• Aurora projector light - $20 to $30 on Ebay.
• Disco lights and plasma balls (cheap at Kmart)
• Water speakers ($30ish at shops such as Big W)
• Battery operated Christmas lights.
• Battery operated vibrating cushions.  I got some vibrating neck massagers from Big W once when they were a clearance item for $5.
• Little hand held massagers (The Good Guys have a light up $10 one at the moment that I want to get)
• Keep your eye out for light up toys, blankets and cushions.  They usually have light up led lights and turn themselves off after 20 minutes.  You will see some in the top right of the picture collage.  I got them for $20 each but they were not permanent items at the stores I got them from. E-bay is a good place to start.
• Get some light up balls (Kmart, Big W, Cheap shops etc), light up tambourines (e-bay or Fishpond), Mini swirl LED light (national geographic, Smiggle, ebay $12- $15). They are plastic and glow when you shake them. They are a bit light a snow globe but with led lights.
• Massage back mat/cushion to put under the quilt on the bed.  We were given one (about 5 years ago) that could also go in the car and you can pick one up for $70 or less on ebay they tend to have them around xmas time in lots of shops.
• Make some of these sensory toys and fabric circles and sensory boards.
• Pool hoses.  They are fun to talk through and feel.
• If you can afford it some light up switch toys.
• Add a ball pit (use a blow up pool and add some light up balls)
• Add a mini trampoline.

Good luck and happy creating.

Sleeping options

Having a safe place for your loved one to sleep at night can be hard.  All of our little ones have different needs and different capabilities. Beds are an expensive outlay so my best advice is don't just think about what they are doing now, think about what they might be able to do in the future.  You also need to think of how high the bed will need to to be for you to have the best access to your child.

You need to consider:

• Are they sitting up?  Are they likely to?
• Are they likely to pull to stand?
• Are they poor sleepers?  Do you need to worry about them getting out of bed whilst you are sleeping?
• Are you going to change nappies in the bed or dress the child?  How is the height for your back?
• Is the child going to get in and out of the bed themselves or do you need to be able to get portable hoist under it?
• Do you need to attach any equipment to the bed like feeding tubes?
• What sort of access do you need for making the bed?
• Do you need to be concerned about them accidentally hurting themselves either through sensory seeking or seizures?  Do you need a soft mesh like surround?
• Do you have a Houdini?  
• Is the child going to get very tall or do you need extra room for you to be able to sleep with them?

The above list is not exhaustive but the sorts of things I tried to think about and we still had to add to Owen's bed.

We were lucky my parents got a bed specially made for Owen.  It is basically a king single sized cot.  Both sides go up and down like a cot does, the height of the sides was limited by the fact I wanted to leave a gap at the bottom for portable hoist access.  To add extra height you will see there are hinged, fold down sides.  I also wanted it to be a high mattress so I could change and dress him on the bed.  Owen developed further than we hoped and now he is working on pulling to stand.  So he can't pull up on the side and tumble out we added a large stargazing tent I saw on another blog. It cost $100.00 and although not sturdy enough for a Houdini it meets Owen's needs.  It is full mesh so it has adequate airflow, it is  high so there is plenty of room for him to sit up, even kneel in bed, also room enough to use the portable hoist and it stops the worry of him falling out.

Other options:

I know some people swear by Special needs tent beds such as Nickel Tent bed and The safety sleeper.  There are also range of special needs beds with mesh walls or cot like railings. If you google "special needs beds" and look at the images a whole range come up.  Most people will tell you they are in the thousands and most are.

I have heard or other people using daybeds (particularly Ikea ones), turned around with the opening placed against the wall, trundle beds on the floor. Some people have used car beds. I have even heard of people using double bunks,  the top bunk is the roof of the bed, pool fencing and/or baby gates are secured around the sides for safety and access.  The thing is, Special needs beds are not one size fits all.  Good luck.

Dealing with Loose Pull-Ups

Owen wears pull-ups.  I used to love the Nappy Pants that Huggies made as they had velcro at the side.  Which made them easy to check and you could use them like a "nappy" if you really needed to.  But alas, he grew out of them and into  Huggies  and Baby Love night time Nappies.  They worked a treat for a while but then he got bigger. Now they no longer have the bottom coverage he needs and aren't quite as absorbent as he needs.  This led to lots of leaky nappies and changes of clothes.  

The next sizes up tend to be small adult ones and as a lot of you would have experienced the elastic can be a little loose on the side.  This means whilst they have the coverage and absorbency they can still have leaks as they move too much. To get around this I bought some cheap boy leg underpants that I pull up over them (as demonstrated in the pictures of my childhood teddy).  Everything sits in place and no leaks. Plus he gets to wear underpants just like any other boy his age.