Best Toys for Autistic Teenager in 2023

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Best Toys for Teenagers Living with Autism

ToyFunctionPurchase Action

Noise Cancelling headphones

–Muffle excess noise for kids with sensory overload problems

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Weighted compression vest

–Control kids who are fidgeting due to anxiety. With the vest, they are able to focus.

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Hidden Rules card game

-Create social interaction between kids

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Socially Speaking Game

–Foster verbal communication and social skills among the teens

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Travelling weighted lap pad

–Control the kid so that they fidget less

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When they hit teenage years, children living with autism become more demanding. At this stage, they are craving for social interactions and dating as we see in the case of Sam Gardner in the netflix movie, Atypical.

They are also aggressive and easily irritated when things do not go the way they want.

As a parent, be ready to solving so many conflicts as well as getting lots of phone calls from your teen’s school since they might be getting into one trouble after the other. They are also likely to be called a ‘weirdo’ by their peers which could hurt your child’s self esteem.

However play therapy has been found to be of great benefit to these autistic teens deal with all these problems that adolescence brings. Today therefore, we look at toys for autistic teenagers.

  1. Noise Cancelling Headphones

Your autistic teen is still sensitive to loud music and will therefore get irritated when they step into a party with loud, blaring music which teens of his age love so much. In school, there is also a lot of noise which will perturb your child. With noise cancelling headphones though, the child will be able to sail through all this without a meltdown or causing mayhem.

Our choice of the best noise cancelling headphones for autism had to be non other than the Fun and Function headphones owing to their great design, effectiveness as well as durability of the headset.

 headphones as toy for autistic teenager
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Pros of the Fun and Function noise cancelling headphones for autism

  • The Fun and Function noise cancelling headphones for autism cancel out extraneous background noise so that your special needs child can concentrate on the task at hand. Ideal for lunchrooms, parties or where there is loud noise, the headphones eliminate all the unnecessary noise that might distract your child while allowing them to hear any conversations with a person near them.
  • The headphones are durable and high quality muffling all unneeded noise so that the child can maintain focus.
  • Lighweight and so easily portable

Cons of the Fun and function noise cancelling headphones

  • They were rather stiff and get into the head of the child in question

2. Weighted Compression vests to calm the teenager

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXf5oUo-KtA

Anxiety is a sure problem that will be affecting your teenager wherever they are. Take them to a new school and they get so much anxious. Take them to a new autism support group and they fidget a lot. Take them to a happy family gathering and the anxiety escalates despite everyone else having fun. Of course, all this will affect you as a parent. So what can you do to curb this anxiety?

Simple, get your child a weighted compression vest which has been shown to calm anxiety in your child. The weighted compression vests work by exerting lots of pressure on the child so that they feel calm even despite the new environments and the disturbances that might be facing them.

Research shows that weight plays a key role in calming down the nerves of your autistic child. It makes them feel as though they are being hugged all the time. And that is why, your autistic kid wants you to hug them firmly so that they can feel you.

Our choice of the best weighted compression vests for autism is the Fun and Function vests that hugs the child embracingly making them distracted from their anxiety.

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What we loved about the Fun and Function weighted vest

  • High quality material that will indeed last for long therefore giving you value for your money
  • Theraupetic compression. The Fun and function vest exerts deep pressure at the joints and proprioception for comforting you.
  • Keeps the kid focused in class or even during their therapy sessions.

What we did not like about the vest

  • Some kids complained that it was quite heavy to move about with.

3. Hidden Rules Card Game

Hidden rules card game to encourage social skills in autistic teenagers
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To help your child develop socially, they need to know things that they are not supposed to say in front of other people as well as how they are supposed to treat others in school or even at home. The game developed by Lawrence E. Shapiro, a child psychologist, will play a key role in helping your child conform to social norms and not come out as a weirdo when they are interacting with their peers.

The game involves flash cards where after picking each card, you are supposed to explain the social norms attached to the rule and how your child is supposed to conform to it so that they are able to interact freely with others.

5. Socially Speaking

Socially speaking game builds social skills in teens with sensory processing problems
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Another great game that helps your autistic child learn how to communicate with others, respect personal space of others as well as foster turn-taking while communicating with others. This Didax educational game also helps your child know when to ask questions and what are the right questions to ask without coming out as awkward.

6. Travelling Weighted lap pads

weighted lap pad for young people with autism
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Just like weighted vests, the weighted lap pads work in the same way. With these, you place them on the lap of the teenager while you are travelling and it has the effect of calming them down so that they fidget less and feel more peaceful.

7. Eargasm High Fidelity Noise Reduction Earbuds

noise reduction earbuds for concerts, school and parties
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Other than the noise cancelling headphones, there are those who want some discrete form of cancelling noise. So they therefore look for earbuds that are more discrete; no one really has to know that you are wearing some noise cancelling devices.

While going through Amazon stores, I found the Eargasm High Fidelity earbuds that are almost invisible and therefore not everyone will have to know that you are wearing them.

What we loved about them

–Discrete enough so that no one knows you are wearing them

–Great to muffle noise for autistic teenagers

What we did not like about them

  • Rather expensive.

Related: Best Sensory mats for autism