Things for older Autistic children to play with

[mrsforgetful]

I'm posting this in two places deliberately...so sorry if you have read this B4!!
well i thought of you DAVROS when i found the neurosmith cubes in the local ELC...and i had to have a little play!I may get some- My aspergers son (9yrs) has what he and i call his 'Fiddle Toys' as he has to constantly touch and 'play' with things.He used to pull threads in clothes and strip wallpaper but since we agreed to have things which he is allowed to 'explore' life is easier! also due to the fact that alot still finds its way into his mouth i try to buy things which appeal to him yet are aimed at younger kids...to withstand his relentless exploration!
We've also just (securely fixed) a length of rope lights to the underneath of his cabin bed as he has a secret area under there and i am making it into small 'sensory' room! Its funny really by the time he was diagnosed we already had everything we needed to make this room yet its only since diagnoses that i have found the 'courage' to display all these gadgets (lava lamps,disco balls,plasma lamp,pin art,strobe light,etc) ---i always felt his room would seem like a lighting store!!! However he LOVES IT!....He rarely has them all on at once!
Another great 'gaget' for older kids which seems to appeal to other aspergers kids i know is something called LOGIBLOCS- these are squares of plastic which have a 'safe' electrical curcuit built in and you simply join all the various brightly coloured bits together to make things like alarms,sensors,torches etc-they are quite robust and run on batteries...so no plugging into the mains needed!!!

Also wondered if anyone knows where i can get 'curly shoe laces' and a peice of cutlery called a 'spork' (a gadget like a spoon but with prongs of a fork...used to use one as a kid for pickle!) These are fantastic if your child has difficulty keeping food on a fork- you can scoop up peas and beans or spike into chips- they're grrrrreat!