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ARK Therapeutic Review

March 14, 2014 by Emilee Evans

Disclosure: I received the products mentioned to facilitate my Ark Therapeutic review. Regardless, I only recommend products I feel would be good for my readers. All opinions are my own and those of my family.

Having three children with special needs, I appreciate quality therapy tools. Our oldest son is on the Autism Spectrum, and our younger two children have Sensory Processing Disorder like myself. What I appreciated about Ark Therapeutic after learning more about them is not only that they offer a variety of of quality therapy tools, but they also offer helpful articles and support as well. I could tell they have a passion for helping others. They have a great blog with a variety of articles that address a number of topics.
For my review, I received a variety of therapy tools to use with the kids as well as a catalog with detailed information.

I want to highlight each tool we received and share how we used them with our children.

ARK’s Grabber®

ARK’s Grabber, which our kids’ refer to as the “P,” is a sensory chew toy. It is squishy for chewing yet sturdy and thick, and it can be held onto it easily thanks to the shape. It has a smooth texture and is manufactured here in the USA with safe, FDA compliant materials. If you have children with oral sensory needs, you know they put anything and everything in their mouth, so having a safe alternative is necessary!
ARK’s Grabber can be used for multiple purposes including: a safe chewing alternative, an oral fidget, to help decrease oral defensiveness and food aversions, to practice biting/chewing skills without a choking risk, and satisfy an urge to chew for individuals who are fed through a g-tube. In our household it serves the purpose as a safe chewing alternative, oral fidget, and practicing biting/chewing skills with our youngest son. The Grabber is easy to wash and disinfect, but with any oral therapy products, you don’t want to share with other individuals – even siblings.
When our little guy starts chewing on something else I simply intervene and hand him the Grabber instead. I encourage him to use it for exploration to the back of his teeth and mouth as well. Because it has the nice handle to grip, he can do so easily and work with the Grabber himself. This gives him a feeling of accomplishment, too.

ARK’s Y-Chew®

ARK’s Y-Chew, which our kids’ refer to as the “Y” (I’m sure that was obvious!), is another chewy tool with a different shape and texture, which offers different uses. It is also made of safe material that is flexible but sturdy. It has a variety of bumps, ridges, and striations, which adds another level of sensory input. It can be used for the same purposes as ARK’s Grabber.
We use ARK’s Y-Chew with our oldest son who is always putting things in his mouth – particularly his shirts. He has stretched out the necks of so many of his shirts due to this. The Y-Chew is a great, safe alternative that also offers that input he craves as well. The different textures also encourage him to use his tongue. He has articulation challenges due to the fact that he has a hard time focusing on using his tongue properly, and the Y-Chew really helps him to focus on it.
Something I didn’t expect but that has really come in handy is he uses it as a fidget in his hand as well. Because of the flexibility, it makes a nice fidget for him when he is trying to concentrate on reading or other times in our homeschooling day where he’s not holding a pencil. Reading is a particular challenge for him, and he has an absolute need to be doing something with his hands in order to work through it. This has led to tearing pages, ruining the binding, and worse, hitting himself. Since giving him the Y-Chew during reading time he now squeezes it, bends the ends, etc. when he’s really trying to concentrate, which is a much better alternative!

ARK’s Z-Vibe®

We received the Plastic Z-Vibe with an extra battery, unscented Bite-n-Chew Tips, and Pencil Tip. I was really excited about this because there are just so many possibilities! The plastic Z-Vibe has gentle ridges on the handle and vibration is activated by slightly turning the end and turned off again by turning it back.
Probe Tip

We used the included Probe Tip with our youngest son for further therapy for the same reasons we use the Grabber – particularly oral motor exercises. The Z-Vibe offers a completely different level of stimulation with the vibration and the textures on the Probe Tip. He is resistant to teeth brushing and certain textures in his mouth, so the Z-Vibe with the Probe Tip is perfect for this. I use it all around his mouth and started with the smoother side and have built up to the textured sides.
I have also found the Probe Tip is also good for the sides of his face, arms and hands. He is resistant to things like doctor’s visits because he doesn’t like others to touch him – particularly his face, arms and hands. So I have been using it on these areas as well for sensory input.
Bite-n-Chew Tips

The Bite-n-Chew Tips came in a pack of three which means one for each of our kids! I make sure after cleaning it to put it away in their special drawer so we don’t get them mixed up. It is pretty firm but slightly squishy for chewing. Turning on the vibration during use adds that extra oral input. Because it is round, I found the Probe Tip was best for reaching the back of the mouth for our little guy, but these tips are great for general oral stimulation and biting and chewing skills.
Pencil Tip

I was really excited about the Pencil Tip as all three children have fine motor delays. When you add the Pencil Tip to the Z-Vibe it creates a vibrating pencil to help with writing and fine motor skills. Our oldest two children have been using it while writing since our youngest isn’t writing yet! I’ve noticed they focus more on writing while using it, and turning on the vibration offers relief for their tired hands. Both of their hands tire quickly, so this is welcome relief!
I mentioned above our oldest son uses the Y-Chew for a fidget when he’s not writing, but I was excited to discover I could change out the Switch Tip on the Z-Vibe for one of the Bite-n-Chew Tips. This also means when he is stressed out during writing, he also has something he can safely stick in his mouth and not even have to put down the pencil! No more chewed up erasers!

I am so excited to be connected to ARK Therapeutic. I love reading all the great tips on their blog and love their passion for helping others. I feel like I have learned so much more since connecting with them, and have seen many benefits because of it. I love that they offer such a variety of products! I know we’ve already added a few more products to our “going to order” list like the Lip Blok and Cup Sets for our youngest who often gags and chokes when using a straw! What product(s) catch your interest?

For More Information:

Visit the ARK Therapeutic Website
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Flummox and Friends review

May 25, 2013 by Emilee Evans

Flummox and Friends is a show with a unique spin. It’s fun and quirky and covers some very important skills that most don’t. Social skills. In fact, they referred to them as the “unspoken rules,” and I honestly didn’t think about this until now, but they pretty much are! This is exactly why I was intrigued by it and interested to check it out. As you probably know, we have one child on the Autism spectrum and two with Sensory Processing Disorder. Social skills don’t come easy for any of them. Our youngest is only three, though, so I didn’t really expect him to pull the lesson out of the show, but I did hope it was entertaining enough for him to enjoy it with his brother and sister!
Luckily, it is! Flummox and Friends is quirky and fun! It features Professor Flummox and his assistants and friends. In the pilot episode, which you can watch for free, the social lesson happens in a party setting where everybody is at the party but not really engaged in the party. Their version of fun is talking about what THEY think is fun. Sounds familiar, right? I know this is a social lesson we and our kids’ therapists have worked with them on. So when this lesson was brought up in the show it was a great reinforcement for them and they (our 7 and 5 year old) were able to get in on the discussion. I also love that are little “intermissions” that are both exciting and help reinforce learning.
Overall, I think a show like Flummox and Friends is long overdue, and it is definitely something I could see our family watching on a regular basis. I think they totally nailed it when they chose their goals for the show and went after them. They truly knew their audience, and I think they did a great job appealing to that audience and benefiting that audience!
Disclosure: I received compensation in exchange for an honest review. Regardless, I only recommend products I have tried myself and feel would be beneficial for my readers. For more information please read my Disclosure Policy.

Re-evaluations for Speech

January 26, 2013 by Emilee Evans

Yesterday was the 6 month re-evaluation for the boys’ Speech Therapy. It’s a chance to re-visit their goals, see their progress, and possibly make new goals. Sometimes, though, it can mean ending their services. That isn’t always a good thing, either. So here is what is going on with our boys and their speech.
Little man went first, as usual. It really throws him off his routine if he doesn’t, so it’s just a given now that if it’s a therapy day where they won’t be switching (one day a week one is in OT while the other is in Speech and they switch), Chaz goes first. He was having a good day today, which means he wasn’t being grouchy and disagreeable. Luckily, that continued into the evaluation. They said he did really well and cooperated without any fuss! As far as the testing goes he’s about the same as he has been – no delay in receptive communication but a moderate delay in expressive communication. It doesn’t mean he hasn’t made any progress – he has. He’s made A LOT of progress! He’s actually communicating with words now, which is a big difference! Some of his words are still getting “stuck,” though. What I mean by that is instead of making a clear sound they come out nasally. He has so much going on with the nasal speaking, the choking on drinks, the stopping breathing when he sleeps that we’ve been taking it one step at a time – seeing one specialist at a time. We discussed, though, that instead of doing it that way (which is taking a long time and getting us nowhere), she is going to give us referrals to both ENT and for the swallow study so we can knock them both out. It might be easier to see then as well if they’re related or separate issues – and if both (or neither) could be affecting his speech. So, we are keeping the same goals for Chaz and we’ll just keep going! I am so proud of the progress he’s made, and we’re so blessed he has such an amazing Speech Therapist that works with him on his good AND bad days and truly is concerned for him!
B then had his evaluation. I have to admit I was most nervous about his because he was already “borderline” of not being able to qualify the first time. When the testing came back he did score at age appropriate level for receptive communication and just under age appropriate for expressive. Not enough to qualify him by our insurance’s standards. Overall, though, they’re really cracking down on therapies, but that is a post for another day! Well, then we talked about articulation, which was (and still is) a BIG concern. He tested below his age more significantly for articulation, but it still wouldn’t be enough. The next biggest concern is pragmatic speech. This is a common concern with children on the Autism Spectrum. Pragmatic speech is basically how you communicate socially. Things like having him interact with others on a regular basis seems like the easy answer, but when they’re on the Autism spectrum that is definitely not always the case. Some concerns with Brayden’s pragmatic speech are:

Not being able to look in your eyes when communicating.
Interrupting.
Not being able to stay on topic, changing the subject, etc.

And well, those are just the tip of the ice burg. He really has many of the key issues with pragmatic speech that are listed in this article, but those are the main concerns. Because he has a diagnosis of PDD-NOS (Autism Spectrum) there is still a chance he will get approved to continue speech therapy based on the pragmatic speech concerns. The wonderful team of therapists will be doing all they can to try to keep him in therapy, so now we just have to pray for the best. Don’t take this the wrong way, we are VERY happy he is at age appropriate levels for receptive and expressive communication and getting better with articulation, but a child on the Autism Spectrum needs that extra help particularly with the pragmatic speech. He is also so very close to meeting the goals we had set with his speech! Of course, I’ll always continue to work with him, but I can’t quite describe how it’s not the same. So, we’ll find out in a couple of weeks whether he will be able to stay in speech or not.
As a random closing: I’m really disappointed with the way things that are important in regards to special needs children get disregarded by insurance. They’re also cracking down on all types of therapy. Some are saying once they hit a specified age (I believe it’s around age 7) they will no longer qualify for things like Occupational Therapy because it’s a “chronic illness that can’t improve.” That DISGUSTS me. Yes, Autism and Sensory Processing Disorder don’t just go away, but they CAN and DO improve with help! I think it’s so wrong that they basically just tell you to “live with it” rather than giving each person a chance to be the best they can be. Actually, they don’t even acknowledge Sensory Processing Disorder as a disorder needing therapy if you remember what I wrote about our daughter’s evaluation. Again, there are MAJOR concerns that need to be addressed, but everything is calculated by test scores and other things that don’t reveal the whole picture. I hope we can spread enough awareness that it trickles to those that make these important decisions for insurance coverage! I know I, for one, won’t stop pushing to be an advocate for my children!

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