Originally Posted by ljfox
My autistic daughter loves buttons. She sorts them and arranges them and can spend lots of time just looking at them in various ways. She finds it calming.
My son has autism and when his school went to Rogers, Ark to the Daisy BB Gun Factory they have a huge wooden barrel of BB's that you can fill you own container and buy them. They encourage the kids (and adults) to run their hands deep into the barrel and play in it. Believe it or not it is very therapeutic and feels wonderful! I made something real similar for them to have at their school and it is filled with beads.
But it has a soothing effect to it and the if some of the kids get a little agitated they go to the "barrel" and play in it for a few minutes then they are happy again.
Billy