Our seven year old son, Koby, has been diagnosed with high functioning autism. Sometimes it can be difficult to determine what to buy others for the holidays, especially a child that is on the spectrum.

Understand that these ideas will not be the same for each autistic child because every child has different needs. For instance, these are things that would work with our child, but some of the items may not be ideal for a child that is non-verbal. Koby is capable of communicating with us and telling us his wants, but has a difficult time expressing his needs and has a hard time handling his emotions, particularly his anger. Over the years with lots of trial and error, we have learned what works well for him with the help of teachers, mentors, and occupational therapists.

Koby loves the motion of swinging and enjoys being brushed so you will see my favorite swing and the Wilbarger therapressure brush on my list. These are things that may or may not work with your child, but they are worth a shot!

1. Eggspressions Scrambled Feelings illustrative book

Koby loves books and his weakness is being able to correctly identify how he should react to certain emotions so this book would work well for him.

2. A weekly planner

Transitions have always been a struggle for Koby. This weekly planner allows children to visualize upcoming events. This would work well for Koby, but most of the time it is too overwhelming for children to process something that has too many photos so I highly recommend a more simple visual schedule such as this one:

This is the kind of schedule Koby has used at school and it has been successful.

3. My Book Full of Feelings

Again, Koby loves books and is interested in distinguishing the difference between feelings and how to express them.

4. Headphones

Koby struggled with loud noises at his old school, such as entering the gymnasium after the bus arrived at school each morning or going to the cafeteria for lunch. The noise was too overstimulating for him, but headphones seemed to help.

5. Balta brush

This was first introduced to us in OT and was a very successful tool for the teachers at Koby’s school. However, it is extremely important that you use the correct techniques when performing brush therapy. If you want to learn more about it, research the Wilbarger Protocol.

6. Inflatable Pea Pod

Koby loves tight hugs and enjoys wearing a weighted vest, so it was no suprise when he asked for this pea pod for Christmas.

7. Mo Willems Little Pigeon book

Koby’s favorite thing right now is Little Pigeon so when we came across this feelings book, I knew he would love it. It is on his Christmas list as well.

8. The Feelings Book

During the years I taught Head Start, this book by Todd Parr was one of my favorites.

9. Platform swing

We loved the platform swing at OT and once Koby was moved to the special education classroom at school, the swing was one of his favorite calm-down tools.

10. Liquid Motion Bubbler for sensory play

This would be a great tool to use for self-soothing.

11. Squeeze toy

Koby loves these squeeze toys. He has one that he brought home from school a few months ago and he uses it every day. Not only as a self- soothing tool, but he loves the overall feel of the toy.

12. Portable trampoline

Koby’s classroom at his new school has a small trampoline and he is constantly telling me how, “jumping helps him to calm down,” throughout the day.

13. Cookbook

Although he is an extremely picky eater, Koby is always asking to “make recipes” with “lots of ingredients” so this cookbook would be a great gift for him. He hasn’t been diagnosed with any sort of food allergy, but dairy does seem to upset his stomach as it does many autistic children. Allowing him to pick out a recipe that he wants to try is a new approach to things he hasn’t tried before.

14. Sequin Pillow fidget toy

We haven’t tried this yet, but I have read great reviews on this product.

15. Bendable fidget toy

We have a few of these and Koby loves them. These are the perfect fidget toy for church on Sunday mornings.

16. Sensory Sack

This is similar to the pea pod I mentioned earlier.

17. Journal with prompts for fine motor skills

Our boy loves to tell and write stories. We still struggle with reading and handwriting which sometimes leads to him becoming frustrated, but this is a great activity for fine motor.

18. My Moods, My Choices flipbook

Another great product that teaches children about their feelings.