Catering toys to kids with autism

Sellers and makers offer more options

NEW YORK — Toy stores, with bright lights, loud sounds and crowded aisles, can be hard to manage for children with autism or other sensory issues. For parents, finding toys that match their kids’ skill sets and will hold their attention can be a process of trial and error. Big toy sellers and specialists are both trying to provide some better options.

Hasbro, for instance, offers tips on how parents can teach autistic children to play with Mr. Potato Head or a My Little Pony set. Toy maker Melissa & Doug offers stores special catalogues.

A Toys R Us in King of Prussia, Penn., turned off its music for three hours on a recent Saturday morning and turned its break room into a quiet zone as part of an event planned with the Greater Philadelphia Autism Society. The company’s 100 stores in the U.K. have been offering similar hours for one day a year since 2014, and Toys R Us plans to bring similar events to more of its 900 U.S. stores.

In the meantime, small stores designed specifically for children with sensory issues are popping up as well. “The need for a store like this is even bigger than I thought it would be,” says Bethany Mathis, who opened Time 4 Toys last month after having a hard time finding toys for her eight-year-old son with sensory processing issues. The walls at the store in Flowood, Miss., are painted in soft colours and kids can test out the toys.

An estimated one in 68 children have autism or a related disorder, according to a government study based on 2012 data. That’s up from one in 150 a decade before. Symptoms of autism vary widely, and can range from mild social interaction problems to repetitive behaviours to difficulty speaking or even the inability to speak. This can make choosing toys even harder than it is for unaffected kids.

Jamilah Rahim opened Spectrum Toy Store in Chicago this year after she realized no toy stores were meeting that need.

Dimming the lights and turning off the music can help some autistic kids, but others may still be affected by a big space, says Dr. Eileen Crehan, a postdoctoral fellow at the autism program at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.

Afterhearingfromemployeesand customers, Hasbro Inc. teamed up with The Autism Project two years ago to teach parents and caregivers how autistic children can play with its toys. The company launched a site called Hasbro Toybox Tools with videos and downloadable instructions for some of its more popular toys, such as Baby Alive dolls and the Chutes and Ladders board game.

Owner Bethany Mathis stands near a number of interactive games at Time 4 Toys, while her son Hayden, 14, tests out a game, in Flowood, Miss. A mother of three, including a special needs child, Mathis and her husband decided to establish a toy store...

Paxton Mathis, 8, plays with a remote-control car at Time 4 Toys, in Flowood, Miss. The youngest child of store owner Bethany Mathis, Paxton, who has sensory processing disorder, often tests out some of the multipurpose toys offered in his mother’s toy...

ROGELIO V. SOLIS/ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOS Bethany Mathis, right, shows Andi Cruthirds one of several toys that both challenge and entertain younger children, at Time 4 Toys, in Flowood, Miss.

Bethany Mathis demonstrates a multi-action cube designed for children or adults on the autism spectrum or even people with restless hands, one of several toys that both challenge and entertain children, at Time 4 Toys, in Flowood, Miss.