A network to share best practices for children with special needs
Therapy Tools on a Budget: 4 tips to help you make the most of your money.
It is great to have products and tools at our fingertips, but our fingertips don’t spew out cash either! It is important to pick and choose tools that best fit a child’s needs. There are many avenues, outlets, and ways for a child to receive the proper tools they need to help enhance their therapy and overall success in daily life.
1. Get help with recommendations!
First and foremost, be sure to have a professional(s) involved with your child’s recommendations. Therapists (OT, PT, SLP) are trained to pick and choose what tools will best fit your child’s needs. Some tools, like a wheelchair, or augmentative device, require measurements to help determine the best fit for the child. Other times, professionals may have a better solution than the one you’re thinking. Most importantly, it’s best to work together to determine what you and your child’s professionals feel would be a good fit. If you need some recommendations, don’t forget School Specialty has professionals’ on-staff to help pick the tool right for you!
2. Use the community around you!
There are some great programs around you that are specifically designed to benefit those who need to purchase or borrow tools and equipment. One great program for schools, groups or the like, is the Teachers List (www.teacherlists.com) which allows the school to create a “wish list” for their students where parents, grandparents, and others can make donations to what their specific school needs. Or, connect with DonorsChoose (www.DonorsChoose.org) that connects public school teachers with people who want to support classroom learning.
3. Use your imagination!
If your child needs some good gross motor movement or sensory stimulation, take them to a park or jungle gym. It seems there are “jumpy” places popping up in every city and these are a perfect supplement to a child’s therapy cravings. Some of these places even have therapists in mind and allow the child and therapist therapy time in the gym.
4. Sign up for discounts and promotions!
Of course, you can sign up for our email promotions to keep up with School Specialty sales such as % off and discount shipping. When you sign up you will receive great email promotions each month on tools for children with special needs.
How do you find therapy tools and equipment on a budget?
Comment
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Comment by Helen Wagner on May 29, 2012 at 12:33pm -
I love the lending library idea!
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Comment by Carrie-Anne Irby on May 28, 2012 at 8:23pm -
I have used DonorsChoose and got cooking items for our classroom and my kids have thrived on our cooking activities. Cooking has allowed my kiddos the chance work on so many skills and I was blessed to have my project fully funded so we could have the chance to pour, scoop, measure, mix, see chemical changes (cooking), follow steps, etc.
I also love your number 4! If you have a favorite catalog you wish you could order more from like them on Facebook. I have won many contests just by commenting on a post. Many bloggers will product test and host a giveaway or contest.
For my community based instruction I try to plan trips close to our two indoor bouncy places. We do our lesson like following a shopping list and paying for items and then for lunch we go to the bouncy place and work on gross motor skills. :)
Another great outlet i had when I was teaching in Kentucky was the local library had a lending adaptive toy library. I could check out items to use and they would ask me for suggestions for items to buy and I would tell them things I would need in my classroom. See if you could help get a lending library started for your town.
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Comment by Kelli McCoy on May 21, 2012 at 10:40pm
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I concentrate on your #3. I look for sensory stimulation everywhere we go. For instance, tonight we were walking around the track while my husband coached my son in 7-on-7 football. I just thought about what I had access to right then that would be a new sensory experience for my legally blind, developmentally delayed 1 1/2 year old. My first thought was, she loves to hear the kids yelling. So I took her out of her stroller and moved in as close as possible to the kids. Then I realized as much as we've been at athletic events, she's never felt the turf. So we sat right down on the turf. She is just starting to use her hands to prop when sitting, so she felt the turf that way first. Then I put the soles of her feet on the turf and moved them in a walking motion. Finally, I lay her on her back, so she felt the turf under her head, back, and legs. Anyway, a simple idea, but just an example of looking for a way to incorporate the everyday, free environment into our sensory learning.
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