Who I Run 4

A friend on Face Book shared the link to a website a several weeks ago.  I thought it looked neat and have heard lots of good things about the group but hadn't really had a chance to check it out.  Last week I finally sat down and went to the website.  Such a neat program which matches runners with those who can't run.  I loved the attitude and idea behind the group and signed Junior up.  He has now been matched with a runner and thinks it is awesome.  Be sure to check out the website www.whoirun4.com and sign up to be matched with a runner or to run for someone.  Inspire and be inspired. 

Sensory Tray

Several years ago Junior had a small sensory board which he enjoyed using.  It was very small and he outgrew it and I hadn't made a replacement. 
I noticed that now even when he is relaxing in the evenings he doesn't just want to sit there and watch tv.  He wants something in his hands.  He can't move his hands but likes to push with his arms to feel things and move his toys.
His birthday is coming up in September so I decided to make him a large sensory tray for his birthday.
I had seen the same type idea in special needs catalogs but the prices are way up there and I am certainly not going to pay what they are asking when I can make something for a fraction(a very small fraction) of the cost.
I am sure there are many ways this could be made but I will share how I made Junior's.  I started out with two pieces of foam board which I cut to the shape of his wheelchair tray.  You could use just one foam board but I was concerned when Junior pushed into it he might bend it.
I then wrapped the foam board in duck tape. 

I forgot to take a pic before I added the duck tape but here is the foam board after being wrapped in the tape.  I wanted to make it a bit more fun so also added stripes of Avengers Duck

 

 Here is a picture of the tray portion sitting on his wheelchair tray.

 I then got various items with different textures and used a hot glue gun to attach them.  The dollar store as well as the clearance racks at other stores are a perfect place to look for items.  Many of these items I also already had.  Junior loves the koosh balls but I knew they would be very difficult to attach.  The orange and green spikey things on the tray feel just like koosh balls but are gloves for swimming(walmart clearance) and were flat so attached easily to the tray.  I found that rubber items have a hard time staying attached with just the hot glue gun so I ran a piece of duck tape through them as well.  *Of course if your child will put items in their mouth then you will need to be cautious about what you attach just in case it comes loose*. 
If you are curious about what is on the board here is a list.  From the upper corner down is a piece of a foam puzzle, some large beads, swimming gloves, fake fur material, a micro fleece dusting sponge, tubing from one of Junior's machines, flaps of duct tape, a fingernail scrub brush, a sponge for dishes, rubbery frogs, some rubber non skid shelf cover, and foam packing material. 
   
The tray sitting on Junior's wheel chair. 

 I had to let him give it a test run before it got wrapped up for his bday.  He loved it and wasn't pleased when I put it away. 
 
My next project is to make a board with noisy items.  Still thinking on that but I am considering a cloth cover over foam board so loops can be attached to "noisy" items allowing them to move. 

Reading with Junior Part 2 & a Little Math

This is a post from a few years ago that I realized I had never posted.  
I thought I would share a little of what has worked with Junior and how he made the connection from letters to words.
When we started teaching Junior sounds we did not teach him the letter names. I wanted it to be as simple as possible and not confuse him. It took lots of repetition but pretty soon he was getting that a specific letter made a specific sound the problem was that was as far as it got. It had no meaning for him that some shape on a paper made a certain sound. Even when we started putting letters together to make words it wasn't really clicking. c-a-t says cat, so what. The breakthrough came one day when we were working on the words and my niece was here. I asked her to go get something to signify each word. Something concrete that Junior could touch and see, it worked and since then we have been able to just use pictures for him to make the connection and then phase those out once he learns the words. It is still slow go but he is getting there.

Numbers came much easier for Junior. When he was little we counted everything. As with letters it took some time for him to understand that the printed number meant something. We did lots of number and object matching using his favorite toys. Keeping his interest was the key. We would play with his cars and then match sets to the actual numbers. Now he has moved on to addition and he does quite well.

Farrell Bag Covers

Junior uses what is called a Farrell bag whenever he is on his BIPAP.  He ends up with some air in his belly and the Farrell bag attaches to his feeding tube and allows the air to escape.  Lately Junior has been having a lot of stomach issues and needing his Farrell bag nearly all the time.  We needed something to cover it with while out because no one wants to see what ends up in the bag(yuck). 

I started with a piece of material that was 10 inches by 15 inches and that allowed room for the seams.  Junior has the regular farrell bag but if you use the super farrell bags then you would need to make the cover bigger.  Remember I am definitely no seamstress so this is just what has worked for us, I am sure there are other ways to make these as well. 

 I hemmed one end
 
Stich a piece of velcro to each side(once you finish the velcro will be on the inside of the bag)

 
Fold in half so the material is inside out and stitch along the side and top.  Once you have finished the stitching turn the cover right side out.

I am sure the seamstresses out there could come up with something fancy for the handle but I just used a piece of scrap material.  I folded it and put a seam around it.
 
Then stitch to the top of the bag(the bottom of the bag is the end with the velcro)
 
The completed cover
 
Open the velcro end and slide the bag inside, close the veclro over the tubing.

 I made several covers for Junior with his favorite being the Spider-Man cover.

 When I hung the bag from his chair the tubing hung down and I was worried about it getting tangled and caught on things. 
 

I added an id badge clip to keep the tubing off the ground and in place. The id badge clips have a plastic loop with a snap which is perfect for holding the tubing(I don't think this would work for the larger farrell bags because the tubing is much thicker). In this pic it is clipped to the side of the bag but I have also clipped it to the top.