Each year Autism Live curates a list of top toys and gifts in a wide range of categories and developmental levels to help you find the perfect gift to delight the children, teens and adults in your life who are on the Autism Spectrum. This year we have chosen toys and gifts for caregivers.  Some of these items are designed to create connection with our kids on the spectrum, some are designed to make life easier and others are just good for a caregiver’s soul.  We hope you find something just right for the caregiver in your life. 

Top Toy Winner

Amazon Gift Card

Amazon

Description

What do you get for the person in your life who gives and gives but often forgets to take care of themselves?  You give them the gift of choice!  With an Amazon Gift Card caregivers have the ability to choose the gift of their heart’s desire.  You can’t really go wrong!

Autism Live Says:

We love that an Amazon Gift Card can buy almost anything in this Toy & Gift Guide!  What sparks joy for you?  What would make your like easier? What would help you to enjoy more and stress less?  Chance are an Amazon Gift Card can make whatever your longing for appear on your doorstep!

Therapist Recommendation Toy Winner

Tongue Drum

Lekato

Description

This Lekato steel drum has a wider range of 11 tones in D major, making a clean, ethereal and buddha-like sound. Widely used for meditation, yoga, early music education, and also can be a gift for famlies. Made of steel alloy, this tongue drum is handcrafted from professionals and can be played easily with the drum mallets or with our hands. day. Each family member explains what they do to function successfully and how readers, too, can enjoy sensory-motor activities at home or school.

Autism Live Says:

We love a good tongue drum to ease stress, tension and frustration. No matter what you play or how you play the music is still beautiful, still soothing.  Use this for your quiet time and play with four child, teen, or adult.

STEM Toy Winner

Learn to Solder Kit

Jitterbug

Description

Everything necessary for a beginner to get soldering is included in the kit: solder, wire snips, a soldering iron and stand, safety glasses and a custom printed heat-resistant silicone electronics mat. Learn to solder in a unique, engaging, fun, and achievable way! The Jitterbug Learn to Solder practice kit is designed for beginners. This insect-shaped kit includes a vibration motor that allows you to bring your creation to life! Hear it buzz and watch it skitter, almost like the real thing.

Autism Live Says:

We love that this kit can help crafty caregivers fix toys, appliances, and more. The kit is designed for beginners.  Try it yourself first and then share the skill with your children later.

Speech Builder Toy Winner

Vocabulicious

Semper Smart Games

Description

Vocabulicious is a fun restaurant-themed game with vocabulary words and engaging conversation prompts which engages the whole family in creative sharing about their day, recent experiences, thoughts, insights and much more! Pick word cards depending on your desired skill level and see how much fun it is to weave curriculum-inspired vocabulary words into conversations on the daily menu topics!

 

Autism Live Says:

We love how this game gets everyone at the table talking and communicating.  It’s fun and easy to play.  It’s perfect for those visiting family members who shy about how to communicate with our kids.  This game makes it simple to get started…and then the fun begins.

Social Skills Builder Toy Winner

Sussed

Sussed

Description

Boost your social skills while having a blast! Ask a question, and challenge your family and friends to guess which hilarious answer you’ve chosen! Use it to break the ice or compete to find out who knows each other best. It’s wacky, simple and packed with laughter and surprises!
Strengthen your relationships, improve communication, and share plenty of laughs with this entertaining game for all ages.

Autism Live Says:

We love the way this game works on Social Skills.  It is super fun to play and the choices can easily prompt you to help those that find choices difficult.  Players are also working on perspective taking, try to figure out what the other players are thinking.

Sensory Toy Winner

NeeDoh Color Change

Schylling

Description

Feeling stressed and on edge? You NEED (knead) NeeDoh. Squish this satisfying sphere and it changes color! It’ll help you mellow out and find inner peace, tranquility, and calm mindfulness. The non-toxic, dough like compound has a superb sensory sensation and the outer material cleans easily with soap and water.

Autism Live Says:

Who says sensory toys are just for our kids? Parents want to enjoy the meditative squish too. We especially love the way these glob of happiness change colors. It’s fun and therapeutic!

Parents Recommendation Toy Winner

Original Coffee & Tea Maker

FinalPress

Description

FinalPress makes delicious hot, iced, and cold brew coffee & tea, extracting more flavor than any other portable brewer. Be your own barista anywhere and enjoy perfectly brewed coffee in just 2 minutes! FinalPress makes brewing easy and affordable. With its collapsible design, FinalPress fits perfectly in your pocket, making it ideal for home, office, travel, and camping. No need for paper filters, pods, capsules, or bulky equipment. Just add ground coffee or loose leaf tea to FinalPress, stir, wait, and press the plunger—it’s that simple.Press the plunger to maximize the release of rich flavor.

Autism Live Says:

We love how portable this great coffee gadget is. It is easy to clean up and doesn’t need a filter!  Enjoy amazing coffee wherever you go.

Oldie but Goodie Toy Winner

Ice Face Mask

BeeVines

Description

Filled with 3,000 pcs medical-grade gel beads, BeeVines freezer cooling face packs masks stay cool for 30 mins to satisfy your cold compress needs. Designed with your comfort in mind, the cooling ice face mask effectively relieves puffy eyes, migraines, headache, dark circles, eye fatigue, allergies, stress & tension. If suffering from dry eyes, you also can use it for warm compress: just microwave on Medium-high/High power for 20 secs and you are ready to enjoy warm compress for eyes & face.

Autism Live Says:

Ahhh!  It’s a little slice of heaven to chill your tired stressed face or gently warm your tired, dry eyes.  We love this mask for its ability to help with migraines or just relish a few minutes of critical self-care.

Motor Play Toy Winner

Lunix LX7 Touchscreen Electric Hand Massager

Lunix

Description

If you’re looking for a great gift that has an innovative, life-enhancing factor, then you’ll love this cordless heat massager. The Lunix LX7 Electric Hand Massager features a customizable pressure point therapy. Durable and designed for comfort, it offers 4 compression massage programs, 6 intensity levels, vibration, and soothing heat. Adjust the massage intensity from 1 to 6 to suit your comfort preferences.

Autism Live Says:

We love this amazing hand massager for anyone in pain, or just looking for a relaxing moment of decadent self-care.  What a great way to model self-care for our children, teens, and adults!

Kids Choice Toy Winner

Collapsible Straws

Kynup

Description

This eco friendly collapsible straw is made of high quality stainless steel, it replaces disposable straws and plastic straws to reduce environmental pollution and Marine pollution. It is small and convenient to carry with three sections that can be stretched to 9.05 inches. It is perfectly compatible with all types of cups or tumblers. against their parents in a fun and entertaining experience.

Autism Live Says:

We love the way kids love these collapsible straws!  They are easy to carry and fun to expand and use. They are great for the environment and great for modeling environmentally sound choices.  Best of all they are fun to use and don’t change the flavor of your drink!

Empowering Employment Skills Toy Winner

The Tower of Self Esteem

StongSuit

Description

The Tower of Self Esteem is all about building up yourself and others and eliminating the need to compete to win. It helps children learn cooperation skills to work together as a team to build the tower while also helping them realize their own self-worth. Watch how fast children learn to cope with social anxiety and develop communication skills. Easy to learn; fun to play! Players take turns with question cards, as they simultaneously stand up to the challenge of planning and building a strong and sturdy tower.

Autism Live Says:

We love how this game uses basic principles from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to foster healthy self esteem and positive self-talk. And it is fun to play!

Educational Toy Winner

CMY Cube

CMY

Description

The CMY cube is the ultimate present for the curious and creative. It sparks imagination, encourages experimentation, and offers a captivating window into the world of color and light.
It introduces the concept of subtractive color mixing, making learning about optics and physics fun and engaging. This rainbow cube is addictive! Once you start exploring the ever-changing colors and optical illusions, you won’t want to put it down.

Autism Live Says:

We love the meditative way this cube looks at color.  Playing with it is a vacation for the mind!  We also love that you can play with it with your child/teen, or adult and they will love it too! Bonus!  It is an amazing educational experience all about color!

Best Card/Board Game Winner

Connect 4 Spin

Hasbro Gaming

Description

Get ready for suspense, strategy, and surprises. The Connect 4 Spin game is the first Connect 4 board game that features a spinning grid. Pop in a disc and then spin the column. Who knows how the discs will line up. Things can change in an instant while playing this strategic game of weights and balances. The first player to connect 4 discs horizontally, vertically, or diagonally wins the game.

Autism Live Says:

We love how fun this game of strategy and chance is!  Its a great “spin” – get it? – on a family favorite game.  This is perfect for multi-generational play. No reading is needed.

Boredom Buster Toy Winner

Cherry Blossom Bonsai Tree

Yushniv

Description

Great buildings start with the stacking of a small brick. These Japanese architecture building blocks create a scene inspired by downloadable music. Scan the code to download the music. Listen as you build or enjoy later. stress. 

Autism Live Says:

OMG!  We love this entire line of  gorgeous bonsai trees! We love building this beautiful keepsake with our children and listening to the music designed to go with each kit.  

Best Video Game Winner

Super Mario 3D World: Bowser's Revenge

Nintendo

Description

Enjoy two Mario adventures solo or with friends. In Super Mario 3D World, choose a character each with distinct playstyles as you dash and climb through dozens of colorful courses, collecting Green Stars and power-ups along the way. Cooperate and compete with friends to reach each stage’s goal. A crown is awarded to the highest-scoring player, making for a friendly frenzy.

Autism Live Says:

We love playing this game as a family!  It is great for teaching cooperation, winning, and losing.

Best Puzzle Winner

Friends 3D Puzzle

Wrebbit 3D Puzzles

Description

Pristine graphics and illustrations bring your puzzle to life. Featuring authentic details as seen in the FRIENDS TV series plus fun references to specific episodes and easter eggs hidden throughout creating an immersive puzzling experience. Enjoy discovering all these exciting surprises! Are you up for the challenge?

Autism Live Says:

We LOVE Wrebbit 3D Puzzles,  They take puzzles to a whole other dimension, literally.  We love these Friends puzzles and all of their fun Easter eggs for fans.

Best Book Winner

Autism and Adolescence The Way I See It

By Dr. Temple Grandin

Description

Dr. Temple Grandin draws on her hard-won experience to deliver an essential guidebook for guiding and nurturing autistic youth. In these helpful pages, Dr. Grandin offers do’s and don’ts, practical strategies, and try-it-now tips, all based on her insider perspective and extensive research. She argues that adolescents on the spectrum must focus on their overlooked strengths to foster their unique contributions to the world.

Autism Live Says:

This is a pivotal book for parents and educators, written by a famous educator, who happens to be on the Autism Spectrum.  Dr. Grandin provides easy to understand guidance that is essential for providing the best support to tweens and teens.

Best Art/Craft Winner

Diamond Art Coaster Kit

Billbotk

Description

This kit contains all the accessories and tools you need to create DIY diamond art painting coasters. Pour your the diamonds that corresponds to the number on the coaster into the tray, then peel off the film covering the coaster and stick the corresponding diamonds on the coaster according to the number on the coaster. Finally, stick the cork base on the back of the coaster, and a unique and beautiful mandala coaster is done.

Autism Live Says:

We love this creative and practical kit.  Enjoy the meditative process of creating the diamond art mandela coasters and then enjoy them while keeping your furniture safe!

Don’t forget to check out all the fabulous toy and gift winners in other categories.

You might find exactly what you are looking for there!

We at AUTISM Live

wish you the

Happiest of Holidays!

After all of your shopping is done, if you find that you have more to give, please join us in making a donation of any size to Autism Care Today (ACT). This wonderful organization gives grants to families for things like iPads, insurance co-pays, sensory equipment, GPS devices and more. Your donation could make another family’s holiday wishes come true.

VISIT www.act-today.org

TODAY and make a DONATION.