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Autism-Friendly Finds: Sensory, Learning & Everyday Essentials
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items My 6 year old son has level 3 autism. Over the years, I’ve learned a lot about what helps him regulate his emotions, communicate, and meet his sensory needs. He especially seeks proprioceptive (deep pressure/heavy work), vestibular (movement), and ta...
Sections
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🏋️ Proprioceptive
✋🏻 Tactile
🎢 Vestibular
🛏️ Sleep and Bed Time
📚 Books for Parents
🏡 Everyday Life
🏋️ Proprioceptive
Products that provide deep pressure and “heavy work” input to help kids regulate their bodies, improve focus, and feel calmer. These are some of our favorite tools for sensory seekers.
If your child jumps on the couch, off the couch, into walls, jumps all around and throws themself on the floor, they may be seeking deep pressure input. This crash pad makes that much safer. It’s extremely durable, and easy to move around with the ha...
Crash Pad
This has easily been one of the best investments we’ve made for our kids. It’s incredibly durable, the covers are machine washable, and it grows with their imagination. One day it’s a fort, the next it’s a slide, a ramp for toy cars, an obstacle cour...
Nugget Couch
We’ve tried a few weighted vests, and this is one of our favorites. I love that it looks like a regular puffer vest instead of a medical device, so it’s much more discreet to wear in public. It provides gentle deep-pressure input that has helped our ...
Sereni Weighted Calming Vest
If you’re looking for a more budget friendly weighted vest, this is a great option. It provides calming deep pressure input and has removable weights, making it easy to adjust as your child’s needs change. We’ve had great results with it, especially ...
Weighted Compression Vest for Kids
✋🏻 Tactile
Hands on sensory activities that encourage exploration through touch. These favorites have been great for keeping little hands busy while supporting fine motor skills and sensory regulation.
Our kiddos love kinetic sand! We keep ours in plastic bins with lids and create different themed sensory bins using things like toy cars, construction trucks, seashells, molds, dinosaurs, or whatever they’re interested in at the time. They get to cho...
Kinetic Sand
We use therapy putty all the time! The different resistance levels make it easy to adjust as your child gets stronger. It’s great for building hand strength, improving fine motor skills, and giving kids a calming sensory activity. We like to hide pon...
Therapy Putty
Play Doh is a staple in our sensory activities. Squishing, rolling, pinching, and molding provide great tactile input while naturally strengthening hand muscles and improving fine motor skills. We like to hide beads, small toys, or alphabet letters i...
Play Doh Modeling Compound 10-Pack Assorted
🎢 Vestibular
Movement based toys and activities that support balance, coordination, and body awareness. Perfect for kids who crave spinning, swinging, climbing, or active play.
These are one of the most used toys in our house, we actually own two sets! My son uses them almost daily. Some days they’re stepping stones, other days they’re bridges, drums, bus wheels, or part of an obstacle course. I love that they encourage mov...
Non-Slip Stepping Stones
Just like the stepping stones, our kids love these. Another great sensory activity for improving motor skills and balance.
Rainbow Ridge Balance Beams
Trampolines and rebound boards are perfect for kids who need constant movement. Comes apart for easy storage.
Special Supplies Kids Musical LED Trampoline Rebounder Bouncing Board
This has been a great outlet for our sensory seeker who craves movement. It gives safe vestibular input through spinning, which helps him get the movement his body is looking for. We use it for sensory breaks throughout the day, and it’s become one o...
Spinning Chair
🛏️ Sleep and Bed Time
Our bedtime must-haves that help create a calming nighttime routine. These products have made bedtime smoother and encouraged better sleep for our family.
We’ve tried several weighted blankets over the years, and this is one of our favorites. The knitted design distributes the weight evenly, and the fabric is incredibly soft. It made a noticeable difference in my son’s sleep, and because of the open-kn...
Bearaby Weighted Blanket
If you’re looking for a more budget-friendly weighted blanket, this is an excellent option. It’s affordable without feeling cheap, and the quality really impressed me. The fabric has a nice texture, it’s easy to wash, and because it isn’t fuzzy, it d...
Sivio Weighted Blanket
This has been one of our favorite bedtime purchases. Between the stars, galaxy lights, and white noise, it creates such a calming atmosphere. I love that you can customize the colors, control everything with the remote, and set an auto shut-off timer...
One Fire 360 Galaxy Star Projector Light
If you have an early riser, this is worth every penny. It works as a night light with a timer, but the sleep/wake feature is what really sold us. The clock changes from sleeping to awake, giving kids a simple visual cue for when it’s time to stay in ...
OK to Wake Clock for Kids
📚 Books for Parents
Books that have helped me better understand autism, sensory needs, emotional regulation, and how to support my child. Resources I genuinely found helpful as a parent.
This is one of my favorite books for helping kids understand and work through big emotions. It uses simple, age appropriate language to teach emotional regulation and gives children practical ways to calm their bodies when they’re feeling overwhelmed...
Tiny Humans, Big Emotions
This boom is extremely helpful in understanding why certain environments affect kids that are neurodivergent. It’s definitely a must-read.
The Sensory Processing Handbook For Parents
🏡 Everyday Life
Everyday products that make daily routines easier, more accessible, and less stressful. These are simple items we’ve found ourselves reaching for again and again.
These have been a staple in our house. They’re perfect for kids with sensory preferences who don’t like different foods touching, and the divided sections make it easy to serve balanced meals. They’re lightweight, durable, and safe for both the micro...
Divided Plates
A visual timer is perfect for kids that have a difficult time transitioning from one activity to the next. It’s a clear indicator of when the activity will end. We use this play time, cleaning up, bath time, time outs and more. It’s significantly imp...
Visual Timer
We don’t use this as much anymore, but in the early years it was an absolute game changer. The visual schedule helped our son understand what to expect throughout the day, while the First/Then board made transitions much smoother by showing what was ...
Visual Schedule
😌 Emotional Regulation
Tools that help children recognize, communicate, and work through big emotions. These have been invaluable for teaching coping skills and building emotional awareness.
This has become an unexpected favorite in our house. It helps kids recognize and name different emotions while also teaching healthy ways to work through those feelings. The mirror on the front lets them see their own facial expressions, making it ea...
Feelings and Emotions Flipbook with Mirror & Wheel
We use these every single day. If one of our kids is having a hard time, we start by asking them to point to how they’re feeling on the emotions chart. Then we look at the coping skills poster together and let them choose what they’d like to try. It’...
Calming Corner Posters
💙 What’s in our Calm-Down Bin (Fidgets and Squishies)
Our go-to fidgets and calming tools for helping regulate emotions, reduce anxiety, and provide sensory input. These are the items we keep within easy reach whenever someone needs a moment to reset.
We have tons of these in our “calm down” bin. It’s the perfect tool for bug feelings and sensory overload.
NeeDoh Ball
Our kids love this. We’ve had it a long time and it hasn’t popped yet.
Cheese Squeeze
Another great item in our calm down bin are these textured worry stones. They provide great input for regulation.
Textured Worry Stone
These are one of our favorite calm down tools. The slow, repetitive movement is mesmerizing and gives kids something calming to focus on during overwhelming moments. We keep these in our calm down bin because they’re quiet, screen free, and great for...
Liquid Motion Sensory Toys