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Please check back often as we work diligently to add more opportunities as fast as we find them! Whitpain Township - Blue Bell, PA Bambino Buddy Ball (Baseball) From the Whitpain Recration Association Website: WRA is excited for our second season of a wonderful program, Bambino Buddy-Ball!  This incredible program provides our challenged or special needs athletes an outlet to play baseball in an environment where they can feel comfortable and thrive while developing confidenc

Recreation opportunities for those with autism and other special needs available throughout the commonwealth We recently came across an article in the PA Post about the Pennsylvania Ballet Academy's bALLet program in Camp Hill. Here is some info directly from their website: Pennsylvania Ballet Academy of Camp Hill will be offering bALLet, an ALL-inclusive ballet education program. PBA believes that inclusive dance education can help children with special needs enjoy a fuller

23 Ideas and Recipes for Dinner Every Night in February! Even though it is the shortest, February with its unpredictable weather and endless cold, feels like the longest month of the year. In an effort to keep everything running efficiently in our Autism intensive house, I have started meal planning a month in advance and it has made a tremendous difference in less-stressed evenings, simply enjoying each other as a family. I am not a great cook, not by any stretch. I make bas

One of the first red flags that something wasn't quite right with Little Dude was his odd behaviours around food. He would twist his little hands in the air, manipulate food into teeny, tiny little bits, stuff food behind him, drop it to the dog....pretty much everything except actually eat it. In fact, his eating habits are such a challenge that I even have "new foods" as a daily goal on his goal chart. Recently, he had an OT session, while our DBA was here, and his OT wante

Trying to fill my days is not hard. I have way too much to do. But as a stay at home mom to a special needs toddler, with a part time accounting job, a husband who is on constant travel (thus making it feel like I'm a single mom) and trying to get Be Like Buddy into every home who needs him, I was finding myself lost as to how to structure my days. I constantly felt like I was getting a little bit of everything 25% done without feeling like I accomplished anything meaningful

Man, when your kiddo has sensory issues, you never know what is going to work or epically fail. I have tried to get Little Dude to use finger paints soooooo many times, but he absolutely hates the sensation of them (side note: I find this super odd because he will "paint" with yogurt all over his food tray so what gives, kid?) I watched him recoil with the touch of the paints repeatedly. I've tried brushes and other implements for the paints, but he has zero interest. What he

Today broke my heart. I took Little Dude to an outdoors kids group to make new friends and experience a nature walk. Instead, we were shunned. Including one little girl yelling "YOU ARE NOT MY FRIEND!" as my non-verbal, tentative walker toddled in her direction. Her mother did absolutely nothing. Then another child came up and essentially taunted us with a song about how he was as slow as a snail and that she was better than us because she's fast like a cheetah. Once again, z

How one person decided to change his community through accessible play Since starting this blog and sensory friendly list, I can’t help but be discouraged when I find a state that doesn’t have many offerings for our special community. Most of the time, I find myself wanting to figure out a way to create local events for those under-served areas, which is exactly what our first guest blogger, Zack Martin did in the Spring of 2017. In his role as Junior Vice President of Sales

We have been doing the early intervention thing for a year now. The therapists have suggested several times that we should do a traditional sensory bin, the type with beans that has toys tucked into it. Much like this one from teachingmama.org I loved the idea but was VERY reluctant to it. Little Dude, like most kids his age, puts EVERYTHING in his mouth. I was very fearful that, in our quest to get him on target developmentally, he would pop a bean in his mouth and choke him

Please check back often as we continue to update the offerings we find! Bluelaces Theatre Company in New York offers a two week day camp for children with developmental challenges who want to explore drama, acting and the theatre! Check out Camp Blue Lab for more details. #autismrecreation #play #inclusion #sensoryprocessing #sensoryplay #autismmom #parenting #aspergers #specialneeds #developmentallydelayed #newyorkcity #newyork

Please check back often as we work diligently to add more opportunities as fast as we find them! Carter's Play Place in Westfield, Indiana is designed to be an inclusive, safe environment for children with autism and other sensory processing issues to PLAY! #autismrecreation #inclusion #aspergers #specialneeds #indiana #parenting #play #sensoryprocessing #sensoryplay #autismmom #indianapolis

Please Scroll Through To Find Recreation Activities Near You Can't find what you are looking for? Check out our Sensory Friendly Page for your state! Surfers Healing From New Zealand to Rhode Island, Surfers Healing offers free, one day surfing camps for children on the autism spectrum. Established over 20 years ago by a father with an autistic son, Surfers Healing has exposed over 4,000 autistic children to the amazing experience of riding the waves. Cool video here. We Rock

It depends on if you see him later or after awhile! (ba dum bum!) Well, we don't know if they will have any alligators or crocodiles, but they will definitely have some live, exotic animals at the final spring semester Family Fun Fest event at Millersville University this Sunday, May 6th at 3pm. Peter Gros, from the original Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, will bring his friendly critters and tales of adventure filming wildlife to the Clair Hall / Winter Center located at 60

We first saw this idea posted by our friends at Pick Up the Pieces, TN who had found it on Smart School House's ideas for keeping your family organized. I'm a super organized mom who keeps this house running like....well, like clockwork, but I must admit I had never seen this before and it is GREAT! Time is such an abstract concept for any child to learn, yet this makes it so much more accessible, for even the littlest learner. Obviously, you can change the colors, times and

Fun Slides Carpet Skate Park and Party Center - Pittsburgh Last year, Fun Slides in Pittsburgh announced their commitment to offering sensory friendly skating opportunities at their indoor skating center. If you aren't familiar, fun slides are smooth bottomed "skates" that you wear to glide down carpeted ramps. They look like a lot of fun and a great way to get exercise! We have been in contact with them and although they do not currently have a recurring sensory friendly mon

Calling all autism mommas in the Lehigh Valley area! Mother's Day is only a week away, so now is the time to get on the ball and make plans to take mom out to celebrate. Autism Eats is making this an easier option for those living in the Allentown, PA area. They have collaborated with Italiano Delite at 1375 Chestnut Street in Emmaus, PA for a Mother's Day Brunch from 10am to 1pm on Sunday, May 6th. Make your reservations today :) #autismeats #autistickids #mothersday #mother

A trip to the city, a concert, and lunch at a restaurant! (Don't forget to check the Sensory Friendly link above for a state by state list of family outings designed with special needs kids in mind) Today, Buddy had the chance to experience live music at the Philadelphia Orchestra and also practice his restaurant skills. It took a little preparation, and Buddy did GREAT! First, Buddy prepared for what it would be like to go to the Philadelphia Orchestra's sensory friendly per

New Day Children's Theatre - Sensory Friendly Performance on April 28th at 10am The New Day Children's Theatre in Collierville, TN launched it's sensory friendly program in 2015 and it is still going strong! This month, the whole family can enjoy a performance of Seussical on Saturday, the 28th at 10am. And don't forget to mark your calendars for the August 5th performance of Spamalot! #autism #sensoryfriendly #seuss #memphis #specialneeds #familyfriendly

America's Incredible Pizza Company launches Incredible Buddies Events First Saturday of the Month at 8:30am - Only $8 for unlimited play and complimentary pass for guardian/parent From America's Incredible Pizza Company: We have worked with our Partner organizations to fine tune our game room to the best of our abilities, but please note that there will still be a variety of noises and lights. We hope with these changes and our INCREDIBLE BUDDIES, that we can create a welcomi

Hint: Packing tape! Yes, my son watches TV. Feel free to judge me on that ;) But sometimes, it is the only way I can get a five minute shower and throw a load of laundry in without listening to the howls of a toddler suffering the injustice of pack and play detainment. Of course, the end result is that Little Dude now grabs the remote off the table and hands it to me, repeatedly, throughout the day, and then turns expectantly towards the TV....Nothing like instilling screen a