Rocking Chair for Small Child with ASD

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orangesoda
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12 Jan 2017, 8:14 pm

Good evening all! My daughter will be 5 years old at the end of this month. She is non-verbal and was diagnosed with ASD about a year and a half ago. She loves to swing and rock. For Christmas I installed a hanging nest for her in my living room (she has been spending a lot of time swinging so it's safe to say she enjoys it) and now I am in the market for some kind of rocker. I've spent about 4 hours Googling this evening and I cannot seem to find something age appropriate for her that seems sturdy enough to handle forceful rocking without tipping over. Can anyone recommend a chair they have personally had success with for a similarly aged child? Thanks in advance :)



MagicMeerkat
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13 Jan 2017, 5:35 pm

http://www.toysrus.com/products/toddler ... chairs.jsp


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eikonabridge
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13 Jan 2017, 7:44 pm

We use a hammock (with steel stand) at home. We set it up in the family room. Everybody enjoys it, especially my neurotypical wife. It's the best companion for any "couch potato" (for watching TV). Yes, we all take turns to be that couch potato. It's set up next to the wall, the kids often do quite forceful swinging (pushing their legs against the wall), but the wall means there is a limit to the amplitude they can swing. Also the hammock is really low, so falling off doesn't cause any harm. Everyone has fallen off the hammock at the beginning, but eventually you do get used to it and don't fall off anymore.

Come to think about it, from the hammock, my son learned to answer yes/no questions, in particular, he learned to say no. (I made the video below for that purpose.) He also learned to talk on the phone from the hammock. (I played with him with a toy phone, and modified the hammock video for that purpose, too.) The hammock contributed tremendously to my son's initial learning, starting from when he was 2.5 years old (he was non-verbal at that age). And you think a hammock (or rocking chair in your case) would just be for fun. :)


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