Most of us have limited time to spend looking for the kinds of toys and activities that will help to develop the children in our care. When my second son was diagnosed with autism, I spent a lot of time looking for suitable toys for children with autism. I was looking for activities to entertain him and stimulate his development in particular his play and interactive skills but it was really hard to find them.

I worked hard and built up my collection of toys for autistic children and activities and my knowledge of how to employ them. I soon realised that I was not alone in finding it difficult and that other parents of autistic children would also benefit from a one-stop parent friendly shop or catalogue to get both advice and resources to help their children develop their language and play skills. This led to the launch of sensetoys.com a website packed with products and ideas for parents and carers of all young children but especially those with special educational needs.

The range of products includes thick wooden jigsaw puzzles with large chunky pieces and simple non-stylised pictures, lovely fabric shaped beanie bags to teach shapes and colours in a fun and tactile way, large chunky tactile shapes with big holes to encourage threading activities, cause and effect toys such as the wooden Jumping Shapes game, the Waggy Garden with its slanted posting panel so a child can see the shaped holes more easily and of course lots of tactile sensory balls such as the squirmy wormy ball.

Sensetoys helps parents find and choose which toys they need, explains how to use them and why they can work so that parents and children get the most from each product. So if you're looking for help to get started, visit www.sensetoys.com.