Sensory Squids

Screen dimming software for Migraines

youneedacat:

jihoa:

This is the best little bit of software I possess and it was free. It doesn’t just dim the screen much further than your screen will allow, it changes the colours so that their warmer and various things. Basically less of the stuff that triggers your migraines! And…dundunderr it means I can still use my laptop when I have a migraine, just! It’s called F.lux

http://stereopsis.com/flux/

If this really works want to try it.

I use this to help me follow circadian rhythms - it redshifts the whole screen when it’s late at night. I’m not sure that I agree that it dims the screen all that much - if it does, I haven’t figured out how to do it. But it really does red-shift the screen so it can be useful for people who are sensitive to color during migraines.

Cleaning chew toys

If it’s not obvious from the stuff I’ve been reviewing, I really love chew toys. If I don’t have stuff to mouth or chew on, I tend to bite my lips and cheeks to shreds.

Unfortunately, chew toys have numerous disadvantages, including the fact that they can get pretty gross. Keeping them on a string around your neck (yay, Teething Bling!) helps, but you do still have to clean it from time to time, and that can mean gross SOAPY AWFUL TASTE on your chew toy!

Enter Mi-T-Mist Mouthpiece Cleaner! Designed for cleaning mouthpieces of wind and brass instruments used by multiple students, this is basically Purell for stuff you put in your mouth (by the way, NEVER use Purell on stuff you intend to put in your mouth - they add the world’s most disgusting bitter taste to it to prevent people from drinking it for the ethanol). It contains propanol, a kind of alcohol, to sanitize objects. 

How it works: The instructions say to spray the mist onto the mouthpiece (or chew toy) and allow to evaporate. However, if there is actual tangible or visible dirt on your chew toy, you can also use it to clean that stuff off, since the propanol acts as a solvent as well. Just spray on and then rinse the toy under water, or scrub at it a bit with a tissue. 

How it tastes: The spray has a very mild minty taste. It also has a mild alcoholic taste that will go away if you allow the toy to completely dry before putting it back in your mouth. If you are bothered by the mint, rinse the toy well under water after using the spray. 

Other alternatives: There are a lot of brands of mouthpiece cleaner out there; this simply happens to be the one I tried. And if you’re over the drinking age in your country and you’re into DIY, try just filling a cosmetic spray bottle with vodka or other non-sugary hard alcohol! It will work pretty much exactly the same way. Take it from me, there is nothing quite like taking a chew toy designed for a baby, spraying it with tequila, popping it in your mouth, and then asking any real or imaginary gawkers if they have some sort of problem with that. 

Many thanks to my local Floortime Center for this hint!

Comment to the CPSC

I have a billion new toys to review, but work demands have made that impossible lately. In the meantime, please take some time to submit a public comment to the Consumer Products Safety Commission on an issue dear to my heart: magnetic ball sets. 

I use sets of magnetic balls - like BuckyBalls - to help my sensory issues, but unfortunately they’re not safe for children or people with disabilities (like pica) that might cause them to eat magnets. Instead of just passing regulation to restrict sales of these magnets to children and educate people more about dangers, the CPSC has proposed to ban them entirely. This means that a lot of people like me will not be able to get a sensory toy that works for them. 

The comments period is open until Monday, November 19 (but note that the web site will be down for almost all of Saturday and Sunday morning). Unfortunately, they’ve been getting a LOT of comments from well-meaning people who are in favor of the ban, apparently thinking that these magnets are used only for entertainment and/or that the regulation would only ban sales to children. 

You can submit your comment by going to the regulations.gov website, reading the proposed guidelines, and clicking “Comment Now.” Here’s what I said:

As an individual living with trichotillomania (compulsive hair-pulling) and dermatillomania (compulsive skin picking), I oppose this regulation. The Commission should instead rely on safety warnings and public awareness to reduce injuries.

Trichotillomania and dermatillomania are characterized by uncontrollable urges to pull out hair or pick at skin. The consequences may include low self-esteem, social anxiety, disfigurement, and even dangerous infections caused by open wounds. They are not simply bad habits but rather potentially lifelong challenges. 

Although medications and therapy can provide some help, I, like many people suffering from trichotillomania and dermatillomania find that the best way to stop picking skin or pulling hair is to obtain alternative sensory input. (See, e.g., Help Yourself: A Self-Help Program to Managing Trichotillomania,http://www.trich.org/dnld/HelpYourself.pdf). Finding the perfect kind of sensory input can be difficult: what may work for one person may not work at all for another. 

After intensive search for the perfect sensory toy, I find that strong magnet sets are number one in terms of enabling me to avoid hair-pulling and skin-picking. I keep them on my desk at my child-free workplace and use them to avoid skin-picking and hair-pulling while at work. Through in-person and online support groups, I have met many others who feel similarly.

It is crucial that the CPSC undertake a serious cost-benefit analysis before banning strong magnets. Magnets have caused approximately 22 injuries (and no deaths) over the course of three years. Although any injury is a tragedy, there are almost certainly more than 22 adults who have avoided self-injury thanks to these tools. Injuries can be further reduced through public awareness campaigns such as those for poisonous household products, balloons, and plastic bags - all of which are far more dangerous to children than magnets.

Thank you for your consideration. 

Fidget Toy Review: Glux

diaryofaskinpicker:

I left the house one day without any fidget toys, so I decided to find a new one. Fortunately, I ran into a small toy store and found something that looked promising. It was called Glux. It was essentially some weird putty that changes colors when you held it in your hands. I think it’s based on the warmth of your hands.

Anyway, the packaging said it could also bounce and shatter. Sounded intriguing. So I bought one. It cost about $6.

Firstly, it was pretty fun. I wasted a lot of time playing with it. It was like pulling taffy. It came in a plastic case so you could protect it when traveling. Unfortunately, it’s a dirt magnet.

Later that day when I dropped it on the carpet, it was completely covered in fuzz and dirt. I guess my carpet sheds a lot and was a little gritty. I tried washing it and picking it out by hand, but it was no use. The Glux was a goner.

If you can keep it clean and not drop it, it’s a pretty good toy, but I can’t fully recommend it because it gets too dirty and there’s no way to clean it.

Sounds like Silly Putty! I had something very much like this, but yes, it does get dusty.

Another Buckyballs sale

Buckyballs are awesome but among the pricier sensory toys out there. Which is sad! Because some of my followers have asked about how to get toys like this for cheaper, I felt it might be worth it to announce that they’re having a 60% off  sale through September 16. This means that the standard $25 set of Buckyballs is now under $10. 

The sale is through the Buckyballs online store. The sale price is not automatic - when you add something to your cart, you have to go to the “Order Summary” box on the right side of the screen near the top, look under the word “TOTAL,” and click on the tiny grey text that says “have a promo code?” That should give you a text entry box. Type in “SaveOnBalls.”

Let’s see how this goes

I just ordered a bunch of Rollys.

sanx2 asked: Do you have any recommendations for something like Buckyballs but cheaper?

There is a competitor, Zen Magnets. Although regular Zen magnets seem to cost about as much as Buckyballs, Zen Magnets also makes Neoballs, which cost as little as $25, and they’re doing a promotion on purchases of two or more sets. They claim to be in “Beta,” though, and I’m not sure what that means in this context.

Both Buckyballs and Zen Magnets also offer smaller sets.

Overall it seems that these magnets may just be expensive to make.

Spikeletz!

Spikeletz, which are apparently a hot trend in the pre-teen community, are silicone rubber bracelets with countless little flexible spikes:

I discovered them in a toy store when I was buying a present for my niece, and bought a couple. 

These are AWESOME fidgets. They kind of tickle me if I actually wear them on my wrists, but they’re SQUISHY and soft and tactile-ly interesting. The rubber spikes taper quickly to a hair-like width, so they give a tickling feeling if you touch them lightly and a nubbly feeling if you press on them. The rubber has a sort of velvety texture. Squishing the whole bracelet around in your hand also makes a satisfying rubbery sound. 

Most of these are neon-colored and are therefore not that great for super-conservative environments, but as you can see above there is a black-and-white version that might potentially “pass” for an adult fashion statement.

If you can handle wearing them around your wrist, they’ll probably fit just fine, as they’re on elastic bands and appear to be sized for more or less adult wrists (I’m guessing they’re marketed toward teens and tweens). 

If you can’t find them in a nearby toy store, they appear to be available online through the manufacturer’s website at Optari.com, for about $5 each.