Parents Becoming Vigilant Consumers By Reading Toy Reviews For Children With Special
Kids with special needs love and need toys as much or more than any kid
, but their parents often face challenges in getting the right toys into their hands. Fortunately, there are rating and review sources out there that can help. What are the most common problems parents find when they dish out their money and get little value for their child from the play product?Ellen Metrick, Chief Toy Evaluator at AblePlay, a website that has ratings and reviews of toys for children with special needs, has made a career out of that very dilemma. We found that parents and their children love and want toys that not only are appropriate for the childs ability, but that also help them capture additional abilities and build on skills they want to acquire.
Metrick goes on to say, I have walked down many aisles of toy stores and searched products online and discovered that there are a lot of pitfalls in the process of finding the right toy for a child with special needs. Heres Metricks shopping cautions:
1.Packages give ages that reflect chronological age, not developmental age. They may not relate to a child with uneven abilities.
2.Product packaging can be very misleading as to what is really inside and reviews are a great way to get an inside peak.
3.Often times, there are elements of a play product that make it difficult for a child to activate or handle if they have special needs or limited large or small motor skills.
4.Sometimes toys have other features that make a toy inappropriate for kids with special needs like loud audios tracks that can over-stimulate or flashing lights that can cause a child frustration or instigate seizures. Certain toys may even cause safety concerns for children with disabilities like stability issues.
5.Skill levels are very hard to determine based on packaging and promotional information.
6.There are toys out there with can be used by kids with special needs in ways that are not even known by the manufactures and can then make a toy accessible, fun and appropriate for kids with special needs .
7.Parents and kids need help in figuring out creative ways and new play ideas so that toys and play products continue to be used and appreciated well beyond their new stage.
In these days of ratings and reviews, parents can do their research in advance and spend their money wisely. Children with special needs can not only enjoy mainstream toys that are appropriate, but they can connect to the real benefits of a play product that can lead to skill building and learning opportunities.
Play is an ideal way for kids to learn. Metrick reminds parents. Giving these kids the right tools lets play time pay off big time both for the child and the parents who has spent their hard-earned money to put toys into his or her hands.
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