One Person's Stripper Pole Is Another's Therapeutic Cylindrical Playscape

Would you put up a stripper pole in your son's bedroom?

Jenny McCarthy did "at the height of her son Evan's autism battle," according to the entertainment blog Starpulse. And I'd have to say, I would never do such a thing ... because my son, you know, he's not so much interested in playing with poles. If he was, and the price difference between a small stripper version and a real fireman version was about $1800, as McCarthy is quoted as saying, then I'd have to go for the less appropriate but cheaper choice. Or maybe get a big heavy piece of piping from Home Depot and try to fake it.

Improvising to meet our children's unusual play needs is something a lot of parents of children with special needs know about, whether we're seriously going for therapy value or just trying to buy ourselves a little peace. I've given my son aquarium tubing to chew on because the stuff out of therapy catalogs is so much pricier. I've filled a regular vest with curtain weights to avoid the cost of a pre-made weighted vest. For a while when my son was younger, the predominant decor in our family room was an inflatable trampoline filled with plastic balls in simulation of a ball pit. We do what we can with what we can get.

Of course, I do sometimes shop in therapy catalogs for the fancy stuff. Even there, though, there's a certain attitude of creativity in repurposing items. I'm plenty suspicious, for example, of some of the small rounded hand-held massagers that look like they could have come from ... well, let's just say the same sort of catalog that might sell stripper poles.

I'll admit, though, there are things I'm just too embarrassed to try. For example, one of my favorite therapy catalogs has a large sort of "squeeze machine" that can give kids terrific proprioceptive input. The child slides through padded rollers on one end and is squished on through. I think my son would love this, but even if I could afford the large price tag, I'd never be able to get over the fear that Child Protective Services would get wind of it and assume it was some sort of disciplinary torture device. They'd probably look askance at stripper poles and "massagers" too, come to think of it.

What improvisations or repurposing of materials have you done to satisfy your kids' sensory and playtime needs? Ever used anything someone else could construe as "naughty"? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Read more: Special Needs News | Site of the Day | Make Your Own Therapy Tools and Toys

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