Is there anything more magical than the sparkle in a child's eyes on Christmas morning? We at ABILITIES hope to help Santa and his elves bring that excitement to youngsters with disabilities.

A good rule of thumb when selecting toys for children with disabilities is to choose ones which utilize their abilities. This advice comes from Laurie Fowles, occupational therapist at Thames Valley Children's Centre in London, Ontario. For example, for children who are blind, toys that "cater to the other senses" are best. Ones with sound or smell are ideal.

Instead of using age as a guide, Fowles recommends considering a child's interests and capabilities. "What their interests are is a biggie. How can we work with that to have the toy promote development, but still be fun for the child?"

Like many 10-year-olds, Jordan Smith often races home from school to play Nintendo and other computer games. But, Jordan, who has cerebral palsy, does more than have fun with electronic games. He strengthens fine motor skills in his hands and improves his manual dexterity.

Jordan and his seven-year-old brother, Connor, who also has cerebral palsy, love building with Duplo. Their mother, Mary, says Lego pieces are too small for the boys to handle. But Duplo helps them build hand strength and is great for their imagination and for developing language skills as Jordan and Connor chat about their creations. Mary thinks "anything that promotes [development of physical capabilities], that isn't work, is wonderful."

Fowles says computers are a big hit with most kids and can be adapted for children with disabilities. Yet great gifts don't have to be expensive. Fowles suggests simple bubbles "are a must-have" for children with a range of disabilities.

Marg Barlow, parent-infant therapist at Child and Parent Resource Institute in London, says that often parents, grandparents and others selecting toys choose ones with "glitz and busy-ness" and sometimes high prices. She finds that's frequently a mistake because it's often "overwhelming" for youngsters. That's when they "just shut down," give up on the toys and instead play with boxes, bowls and other familiar things.

"So many toys look neat, but how accessible is it to the child?" asks Barlow. She suggests trying to look at toys from the child's perspective. If the toy has a mirror, make sure the child can see it from his or her position.

Like Fowles, Barlow thinks simple toys are sometimes the best. Barlow says people often don't give building blocks as gifts with all the other choices in today's market. But they're almost always a hit with the wee ones.

In selecting items for kids with developmental disabilities, Barlow recommends considering the child's level of function. When children are playing, Barlow says, parents may have one definition of success, while kids have another. She says with a toy like stacking rings, parents often judge a child's achievement by rings being placed in the right order. For kids, especially those with developmental disabilities, fun and a sense of accomplishment are derived just from getting the rings on the stick.

Both Barlow and Fowles say cause-and-effect toys are great for promoting a child's development. The child does something -- like push a button -- and that causes something else to happen. Barlow says Sing and Smile Pals by V-Tech is easily activated. When the child pushes animal pictures, the dog barks, the cat meows and the duck quacks. The Sassy Sound Shape Sorter gives musical feedback. For kids who are blind, sound is a great motivator. For kids who are deaf, it may be light or other visual responses. Musical feedback is also good for children with autism.

Fowles says V-Tech toys are usually accessible for youngsters with special needs. Valarie Anderson, who is blind, purchased that line's Little Smart Phonics A to Z for her sighted granddaughter, Amandah. (With Little Smart, children can learn the alphabet by letters, sounds, alone or in words.) A delightful surprise for Anderson was discovering the Braille alphabet next to letter keys. So, Amandah sees -- and feels -- how her Nanny reads. Little Smart is also a super way for youngsters who are blind to begin learning Braille early.

Pennie Jevnikar, who has two daughters with low vision, attached rattles to the girls' ankles with Velcro when they were infants "so they would know they have feet. Sighted babies see they have feet. Blind babies don't." Rattle socks with animal characters on them are also widely available for babies.

Jevnikar recalls that when her daughter Sarah was younger, she could always tell when the girl had been using her Crayola smelly markers because Sarah's nose was covered with vibrant colours. At a birthday party, Sarah received Tutti-Fruttie play putty in all the smells available from her pals.

For games, Jevnikar suggests Scenterville, which has players identify play fruits and other items by smell. She says traditional board games like Snakes and Ladders are made in tactile versions, but she had to order hers from Scotland. However, the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) offers a selection of fun products for youngsters with vision disabilities. These include Braille and tactile Bingo, large print and Braille playing cards, checkers, tic tac toe, Braille Monopoly and Scrabble, and a bell ball.

For a child just learning to walk at age three, Fowles says "a walker is not motivating." But the Little Tikes shopping cart is "wonderful" as a push toy while practising walking, especially when weighted with juice cans or sand bags.

To help you and Santa choose toys best suited to your child's abilities, Toys R Us publishes an annual "Toy Guide for Differently Abled Kids." Toys in it are tested for 10 developmental areas, such as language, tactile and gross motor skills.

Mark Casey, a Toys R Us store director, says the guide is "definitely client based... People come looking for an updated version" each year. In his London store, he finds it is used more by folks seeking toys for youngsters with developmental or learning disabilities than for physical disabilities, although the guide clearly covers all needs.

Like Fowles and Barlow, Casey stresses that toys don't have to be fancy or costly to make kids happy. "One thing that stands out" in persevering popularity is "just plain old rubber balls." They always provide lots of fun.

Terry Smith, Jordan's and Connor's father, says that Connor relishes playing with soccer balls and basketballs. He explains that when Connor throws a ball against the house and catches it, he improves his hand-eye coordination and loosens up his muscles. "It's a form of therapy.... but don't tell him that," Terry adds, chuckling.          (More ...)

From http://www.abilities.ca/include/article.php?pid=&cid=&subid=&aid=1057 Originally published in the Feature department of Abilities, Issue 45, pp, 20-22, Winter 2000