Easter gift ideas for special needs children

April 5, 12:15 PMPhiladelphia Special Needs Kids ExaminerKim Goff

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When I shop for gifts for my autistic son, my frustration and hesitation isn’t about what I can or cannot afford, it is about what gifts can I get that are appropriate for my 8-year-old, PDD-NOS son?  Yes, they are lots of gifts and toys available for his biological age, but mentally he will not understand most of them.  I still have to try and find the Disney characters or musical toys that he favors.  Shopping for any type of gift for a special needs child can be rather difficult.  They have disabilities and preferences that can cause them to be very particular about what they like.

Obviously, it is tradition to fill an Easter basket with candy, my son does like candy but that doesn’t keep him occupied for long.  My son needs to be kept busy with something that stimulates his interest.  If not, he can became very bored and frustrated.  Therefore, I have put items in his basket that he is going to enjoy and that keep him busy.  To help others who also have the challenge of shopping for gifts for special needs kids, I have put together a list of suggestions:

DVDs
My son is obsessed with DVDs.  He loves to read the inserts and will carry them around for hours.  After he is done looking at them, he will then want to watch the movie.  His favorite DVDs keep him calm and happy.  Your child may get very excited to see a DVD in their basket besides candy.  I highly recommend Disney movies, as well as "Winnie the Pooh" and "Little Einstein".  Little Einstein is very entertaining and educational; it teaches kids about problem solving while learning about classical music.

CD’s
Listening to his favorite CD’s in the car is something my son also loves to do.  He loves the Dragon Tales’ CD, The Wiggles, SpongeBob Squarepants and the Shrek 2 soundtrack.  Singing to music keeps him happy and calm.  Most children love the fact that they can “rule” the radio in a car with their parents!  

Personalized picture frames with family photos
Creating colorful picture frames that have family photos in it can give your child something positive to focus on; if they have a fixation issue like my son.  There are days when he loves to just carry photos around of his “poppy”.  Sometimes he will carry a photo around of just my husband and I.  By creating a colorful picture frame, you can create something positive and ordinary that your child can carry around with them.  If you make it small enough, they can carry it around in their pockets or keep it in their book bag, which may help at any difficult times they may have at school.

Books
Books are a great choice even if your special needs child cannot read.  My son cannot read, but loves books!  He has hundreds of them and really favors the Disney books.  He will look at the pictures for hours.  There are many educational books that have children's’ favorite TV and movie characters and usually can be a nice surprise to see in an Easter basket!  Small-size and even mini-size books are available at many books stores and fit perfectly into an Easter basket!!  Also check out mini coloring books and crayons!

Special needs children can get an Easter basket just like everyone else, however, because of their disabilities and preferences, we as parents, just have to become a little “creative” about what types of gifts to put in the basket.  There are many things you can put in the basket so as to look like any other child’s basket.  I think all children would love to get DVDs and CDs in their basket, they usually get candy!  Most children would probably be jealous of what we put in our baskets for our special needs kids!

Try not to worry about what other people think, because for some us, a bunch of candy is not always the best gift for our type of children.  We have to make adjustments so that our children our happy and healthy.

Have a Easter egg hunt to attend?  Do not fear!  There are plastic large-sized colored eggs you can purchase, which are big enough to put other things in that candy.  You can put stickers, coins or even sugar-free jellybeans or candy in the eggs.  Hunt with them and let them find those colorful eggs like everyone else! 

Again, this article is just listing some suggestions that have worked for me and other special needs parents; these suggestions may not work for everyone.  If you have any other ideas and would like to share them, please contact me – I would love to hear them!  Happy Easter!

For other ideas for special needs gifts, click here.
http://www.uihealthcare.com/news/news/2007/12/03giftideas.html

Or, check out this article
http://www.blogher.com/node/10914

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