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Updated December 30, 2014.

Manufacturer's Site

Industrial designer Tim Bergeron was working on developing products for children with special needs, when his daughter Carrie was born in 1976 with Down syndrome. As he looked for appropriate products for Carrie to use, he found that there were limited options and the products that did exist were not very comfortable for children to use.

Tim developed a product line under the Tumble Forms brand that was more aesthetically appealing to therapists and parents.

The positioning products were more durable, softer, and colorful, unlike traditional positioning and rehabilitation therapy equipment.

Then in 1988, Tim moved on from Tumble Forms and started Special Tomato. He founded this brand on an even more comfortable material than he had been working with at Tumble Forms. He created a Soft-Touch(tm) material that could withstand long-term use in therapy, and maintain its comfortable appeal to children.

Soft-Touch(tm) also has these additional benefits:

• Antimicrobial
• Latex-free
• Peel resistant
• Tear resistant

Down Syndrome and other Special Needs Resources

This article will explain and describe some of the types of products Special Tomato manufactures for children with special needs. If you're looking for information about disease symptoms and treatment, About.com has an extensive selection of resources monitored by a Medical Review Board about

• Children Special Needs,
• Parenting Children with Special Needs,
• Down Syndrome,
• Cerebral Palsy, and
• Muscular Dystrophy,

to name a few.
Soft-Touch(tm) Therapy Rolls and Wedges

Therapy Rolls are products that are shaped like a roll of quarters and used by therapists to help improve extension, flexion, balance, and posture. The patient lies across the roll, or sits on the roll, in varying positions aided by the therapist. Each position helps different muscles to flex and extend, as well as grow stronger.

Special Tomato's Therapy Wedges are, well, wedge-shaped. A soft outside, foam on the inside, and shaped like a large chisel, these wedges are used by the parent or therapist to aid the child to sit or lay in various positions. The wedge helps the child develop balance and muscle control.

A few unique features about Special Tomato's Therapy Rolls and Wedges are:

• Special Tomato incorporates their Soft-Touch(tm) technology into a handle at the end of each roll, and the wedges have the handle built-in. The handles are intended to make the products easy to control when in use, and convenient to store when not in use.
• Their rolls and wedges feature a concave end so that the equipment can stand upright for additional storage options and convenience.
• 5-Year Manufacturer's Warranty.
• Latex-free.
• Antimicrobial.
• The seamless material that envelops the rolls and wedges makes them impervious to fluids, and resist tears and peeling.

Special Tomato's Soft-Touch Sitters

Special Tomato's Soft-Touch Sitters look like a child's car seat. They are shaped the same way, and even have built-in straps that look like seat belts. They offer the same advantages that Special Tomato's Soft-Touch(tm) material provides to their other products: peel- and tear-resistant, impervious to fluids, withstands cracking, and the material is antimicrobial, which means the material inhibits the growth of germs on its surface.

The Sitter product is a piece of equipment designed to keep the child in a safe, upright, seated position. There is an optional headrest for neck stability if the child needs it. The attachment straps fasten the Sitter securely into whatever it needs to be mounted. Special Tomato makes a Buggy Stroller and Jogger in which the two smallest Sitter sizes, can fit so that the child can be comfortable and secure while going places.

The Sitter comes in 5 sizes, and either size can fit into, and fasten securely to, standard chairs found at home, school, or places such as a restaurant for example.

Special Tomato, in addition to two sizes, has made three options for the Sitter.

Option 1:

Sitter Only. Described above, it includes the 5-point positioning harness and attachment straps.

Option 2:

Sitter with Wood Tilt Wedge Kit. Adjustable and elegant-looking wood base that the Sitter can be fastened to as a base. The wood base is adjustable from upright to 25 degrees of tilt.

Option 3:

Sitter with Mobile Wood Tilt Wedge kit. The mobile kit looks like the same base, and includes all the same features as the other two options, except this one has 4 casters so that the child can be moved from room to room without needing to be repositioned each time.

These are just a few of Special Tomato's positioning products. They have a broad line of equipment for children with special needs, such as those with Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, or muscular dystrophy, to name a few conditions. As you shop for rehabilitation and positioning equipment, look to see if the product has antimicrobial properties, is soft and comfortable to use, and promotes durability features such as resists cracking, peeling, tearing, and is impervious to fluids.

Manufacturer's Site