Arnie and His School Tools: Simple Sensory Solutions That Build Success

This book was a great help to discuss my 5 1/2 year-old son's sensory processing disorder with him. It described behaviors so similar to his own that he could really identify with it. He listened intently, and when we were done asked if he could bring it to school for his teacher to read to the class. The teacher commented how great the book was in describing behaviors that may seem silly to other students. The kindergarten class was very receptive and asked questions of my son, who was more than happy to discuss with them.

I love this book! Children with sensory issues all too frequently feel as though they are the only people on the planet who experience the world differently. This wonderfully written and illustrated book tells the story of a young student children can easily relate to. Seeing a wiggle cushion, hand fidgets and other sensory-based "school tools" in a book normalizes the experience for students and helps them to recognize that they truly are not alone. This book is also a great way to introduce classroom accommodations to parents, teachers, and school administrators. www.sensorysmarts.com

This is exactly the book my family needed. Reading "Arnie and his School Tools" to my children made them feel "normal". Giving it to the teachers to read to the class was the perfect start to improved classroom behavior. The teachers suddenly "got it", and the students who saw behaviors in themselves wanted Arnie's tools, too. The children who didn't understand why the Arnies in class needed to move suddenly became more empathetic. A very powerful experience. A book I intend to give to each of my children's teachers at the beginning of every school year.

Written and illustrated by school-based occupational therapist Jennifer Veenendall, Arnie and His School Tools: Simple Sensory Solutions That Build Success is a children's picturebook about Arnie, a young boy with sensory modulation difficulties - that is, he's a "mover". His body needs to move, and his hands need to be busy, which makes it hard to sit still in school and pay attention to his teachers! What is a naturally restless boy to do? Fortunately, his parents and teachers instruct him in simple helpful strategies, including fidgets, chewy pencil toppers, earplugs, headphones, ball cushions, weighted vests, and more, as well as the use of natural physical movement to help keep his body calm and enable his mind to focus. Arnie and His School Tools is no ordinary picturebook; it's also a useful teaching aid for occupational therapists, teachers, and parents helping elementary children understand helpful basic sensory tools. "Sometimes I jump on our mini-trampoline, and at other times I jump and crash into our couch pillows. All these things help calm my body and my mind so I can get my homework done." Suggested discussion questions, a list of resources for children and parents, and helpful websites round out this enthusiastically recommended picturebook, especially for public and elementary school libraries.

Jennifer Veenendall has done an amazing job at creating a wonderful hard covered cleverly illustrated book. I would highly recommend this for teachers who have students with autism integrated into their classroom. The book would educate typical peers on autism and the tools kids with autism find useful. The wonderful illustration would catch the eye of any young reader while teaching them valuable lessons about their peers with autism. Also, parents can share this with their childdren who have autism or sensory processing disorders to provide them a character whom they will understand and enjoy. This would be a terrific gift for any lower elementary school teacher. Joanna Keating-Velasco, Author and Instructional Aide, A Is for Autism F Is for Friend: A Kid's Book for Making Friends with a Child Who Has Autism