The Shirt Less Chewed Giveaway
At the beginning of the school year my son was under an enormous amount of stress. He was under the care of doctors for depression and while he was doing slightly better – the depression was lifting – he was no where near where he deserved to be emotionally. A month into school when more was expected of him he started to chew his clothes. Honestly, it caught us off guard and we tried everything to reduce his stress levels.
His anxiety was very high and there wasn’t anything we were doing that was helping ease the anxiety. His anxiety also made him want to stay covered and he wore a jacket except when he slept. He chewed on the sleeves of his jacket(s) mostly, but also collars and sleeves of shirts. Long sleeves were his favorites. We did have a bit of success at with providing him washcloths and towels but they didn’t last either. He’d chew them and pull them apart and leave the remnants of his anxiety all around the house.
A chewy? Chewies? Their URL is Chewelry. I know, that’s clever, right? Such a perfect name for the line of chew necklaces – jewelry.
Back then I wish I had known about these chewies. Not the pink ones for him! But he would have gone for any of the cool “boy” colors. I would have ordered a few of them, just to save on clothing replacement costs.
Pierrette and Lorna, the good people at Kid Companions offered up two of them for us, a Blue Circle and Pink Heart. Luckily with proper mental health treatment, my boy’s anxiety is all but gone so he doesn’t need one anymore. But if you have child who chews why not leave a comment that you’d like one of these! Giveaway period ends Friday, June 5, at 5PST and remember, you must be registered at our site to win!
Here’s what their sites says about the particulars; what they are made of and about the special clasps that break away and why they made them in the first place.
Note from Dawn: I wish I’d known about these back when Madison was chewing her t-shirt collars to shreds!
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About The Author
Julia Roberts
Julia Roberts is founder of Support for Special Needs and has been a regular contributor since its inception in May 2010. A mom to two kids with special needs, she didn't want other parents to feel what is the often isolating world of raising a child (or two!) with disabilities. Her kids had kidney transplants at the age of eight and will need liver transplants in the future as a result of ARPKD/CHF. They both have vision disorders and learning disabilities.
My 17 year old (ASD) was a chewer and the worst thing about it was that the wet shirt always left him chilled. Now, my 5 year old is also a chewer. He will be starting school in September and I’m looking for aids to help with the transition, his response to stress is selective mutism and chewing.
I have 4 kids, 3 chewers so we would definitely put these to good use. I am glad that you are posting all these great resources, this website is cool and my oldest daughter would love this as an alternative to clothes pillows and uncooked spaghetti ! I can’t believe I hadn’t seen it before.
Love this idea. My son, 12, DS/ASD, doesn’t chew his clothes anymore, but does chew/mouth his hands. In the winter, it is really bad due to the dryness. Plus, he picks up all the crap around the house and wears it on his face. Love to have something distract him from his hands!
wow, great idea! My son chewed up so many shirts when he was younger. I would have ordered these for sure. Please don’t select me to win I just wanted to post what a great idea this is.
At first I thought the chewing was just a reaction to her little sister being born. Then it continued over the next 22 months – she chews up her bottom lip & chin until it is raw and bleeding, chews her arms until they bleed, I tried keeping her in long sleeve shirts and she chewed holes in the sleeves. Pillow cases, blankets, stuffed animals belonging to her and her siblings, finally after she chewed the silicone cover off the Wii remote last week it occurred to me that hmmm, maybe there’s something more going on there (and that me getting frustrated with her was just making things worse). I expected my kids to eat me out of house & home as teenagers, but I never expected my almost 4 year old to chew her way out!
My 5yo son with Aspergers chews everything! He used to bite himself when he was stressed out, but thankfully he doesn’t do that anymore. Now, he just chews everything else. All of our wood furniture has been chewed, including the bedrails to his bed and the backs of all our chairs. He chewed the zipper stops off his brand new winter jacket this year, and the strings off his sweatpants. He bit holes in our vacuum hose. He used to chew holes in the toothpaste tube so that it would ooze out everywhere when you tried to squeeze it. We used to joke that we would never let him out of the stroller, because he used to get down and lick any liquid that was on the sidewalk. Now he is happy chewing dandelions and maple seeds. All of his toys are constantly being chewed. One day I heard a funny interchange between he and my 4yo who is normal. They were arguing over two identical toys, over which toy belonged to which kid. I heard my 5yo say, “Look, this one is mine. It is chewed.” The 4yo agreed instantly, “Oh yeah. You can have it back.”
My youngest chews through the collars of all of his shirts (7 yrs). Heck, my middle child sticks EVERYTHING in his mouth and he is 8. Both of my little guys would benefit from something like this. Sorry I haven’t been active on the site. Once things settle down, I will get back into blogging and forums and whatnot…
My ASD son is a real chewer. I send a chewie to school with him, but he tends to just drop it whenever he’s done with it. How great to have something that will hang around with him!
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