My son chews on his shirts - either the neck or the sleeves. I will NOT buy new shirts and he doesn't mind. Our church thrift store has nice stuff for 50 cents a shirt. I usually buy 8 to 10 shirts every 6 to 8 weeks. Just works out for us.
He had the distressing habit of licking his fingers and wiping them on his face last year. knowing about the sensory issues, his teacher called me about it. I asked him what was up and he said he did it to cool down when the room was too hot. We worked out his being able to hold up 2 fingers and then get up and get a paper towel wet to wipe on his face. Much nicer. We have been lucky in that his teachers have at least understood that there is a REASON behind strange behaviors, usually one we can help with.
This year he was at "Walk and Talk" before school and was pushed from behind. He landed on concrete and his face was majorly scabbed up. The child who pushed him said it was an accident, but the school knew better. She has done this to many children. BUT they were harder on her for pushing thank you because they knew he just didn't have the instincts or ability to get his hands out to catch himself. I was amazed that Ididn't have to explain this to them!
For chew necklaces, are there strings that theylike the feel of that you could tie the chewys on? We didn't like the necklace part either. But he doesn't like the way the chewy necklaces feel and taste, so.....
Have you gotten the book "The Out-of-Sync Child Has Fun!" by Carol Kranowitz? It has AMAZING ideas to help you cope.
I know we didn't put the bed up on a frame for a LONG time because he kept jumping on it. He fell off when it was on the floor, I didn't want to have him fall off from a higher distance. Again, he didn't mind.
We made a "Crash Pad" based on the book I mentioned. I sewed 3 sides of 2 twin sheets together. Then I filled it with old pillows from garage sales, out of season blankets and throws, etc... I never did sew it shut, but I did have to make sure he knew to stay out of it or I would get rid of it. It didn't feel safe to me to have him crawl into it. He can jump off the bed onto it, can nestle in it for storytime, and basically can wrestle with it with-o hurting anyone or anything.
There are a bunch of other great ideas in the book.
For weighted blankets we sewed up a bunch of rice bags and then made a blanket with pockets with flaps to keep the rice bags in. It worked pretty well, as long as we got ALL the bags out of it before we washed it.
He also has been in heaven with an mp3 player. My mom got him a really nice one, and hit has Magic Treehouse stories, and strange songs (one about Toast from Heywood Banks, among others.).
Anyway, the book will spark all kinds of ideas.
We find that he leads us to what he needs. And if we try something and he just hates it, then we get rid of it. Cause he rarely changes his preferences.
OH, a BIG success here are plates/trays from Walmart this summer with sections, like school lunch trays. He LOVES them, they don't look like baby plates, and his food never touches!!! Food just Can't touch, you know, LOL!!!
