ARK's Textured Grabber Oral Motor CHEW *Very Soft & Chewy - for mild chewers or Those with Limited jaw Strength

Bought for my daughter who's on the spectrum- Would definitely recommend & plan on exploring more chews by this company.Love the choice options of styles , firmness & durability.

Got this for my son who has sensoryHe loved there texture and it’s safe

I have been buying ARK chewers for almost four years for my autistic grandsons (fraternal twins of almost 5 years old) to help them avoid chewing up their shirt collars and blankets. I generally buy the toughest for one twin and the medium for the other. I bought this softer version one time instead of the medium and it did not last as long. You can't go wrong with the P-shaped or Brick P-shaped chewers if the child is willing to use a hand-held chewer. I am grateful to ARK for making safe products that I trust. If you are buying for children with special needs, you might want to take a look at ARK's site for other items, such as what I consider speaking/pronunciation aids.

The ARK’s textured grabber has been a fantastic tool for my sensory seeking 2 1/3 year old. We have tried many products from this company including the zvibe but this is by far his favorite. It’s much softer and bendy than other versions which my son prefers.He was chewing his binkie nonstop and when we took that away during the day he would chew his hands, books, toys, cars etc. the zvibe tips we had were a bit too stiff for him (plus vibration was too intense for him) but this has just the right amount of softness. He has tried a few lower cost ones from other brands and he tosses them to the side quickly... but not with this one!!It’s easy for him to hold. He will chew on several different areas of the grabber and he also just likes it to be hanging out in his mouth.I’ve found that when he uses this grabber during OT therapy he is much more focused on the fine motor tasks. He will fully participate and engage in sessions rather than trying to chew on the therapy toys.Its hard for me to explain how much we love this. But, it’s been a life saver! I’m so grateful for the therapists who have suggested this brand! If your toddler or child loves to chew then try this :)

We bought this as our baby’s first teether around 4 months old. It was a bit too large for him then and he had difficulty getting to his mouth/where he wanted it, but now at 6 months it is by far his most used item. I also think his frequent use of this teether is what led him to be so proficient self feeding with his spoon once we started BLW at 6 months. He’s really good at using spoons and I think it’s because this teether is a similar maneuver to his spoon. It’s a great teether to take on the go with us as well and is very easy to clean. I am very glad we went with this option.

I love that it can be washed in the dishwasher.

So, to be honest, I made my way here because I was looking for chew toys that would be good for adult humans. :)Incidentally, by boy was also born with problems that led to feeding issues and delayed oral development, problems with textures, etc. It took a long time to transition him to solid food, but he's a lot better now. Back then, we used those 'NUK' sticks, but this would have been a great item to help him if only it was more well-known. Never even heard about these things from feeding therapists or anyone else!Anyway, I purchased two. One for me, and one for him.As far as my son goes, he's currently 3 years old, and he's played with and chewed on this some, but hasn't been too interested in it. As I said, I wish I knew about these earlier. It's a great, high-quality chew, with multiple textures, and would have been very helpful in fixing all those oral problems. Would have been great for teething too, even earlier. This would have been far superior to teething rings and such.So for me. I've got some bad habits of eating when idle (even though I'm not hungry), and I've always chewed on pens, etc., so I had an idea some time back to find a good chew toy appropriate for a human mouth that could fill that need and avoid taking in the extra calories. Maybe burn off a little stress, too. Eventually I found my way to these 'grabbers', settled on this one, and I'm pretty happy with the product.Great quality. And the silicone it's made of is pretty invincible. Just so you know, this isn't like a hard rubber. It's CHEWY. Like chewing on soft rubber. I've been careful with the force I applied at first to avoid damaging it, but it seems no matter how hard I bite down, even with the sharp parts of my molars, it springs back, and the surface is totally unmarred. Although, I suspect I could damage it if I tried.So far it's fulfilled its purpose of something to chew on idly while at the computer. And it's had plenty of positive effects, which may be worth some consideration for all 'normal folks' who might think adult chew toys are weird.There really is something to the marketing of dog toys when they talk about cleaning a dog's teeth and strengthening their gums. As I chew on this, lots of things happen:- The little texture knobs press between my teeth and massage my gums.- My mouth produces saliva, which helps regulate the glands and also cleans my teeth.- The rubbery texture rubs against my tooth enamel and leaves my teeth feeling clean.- Obviously, chewing this grabber will strengthen your Masseter and Temporalis muscles, and probably the smaller jaw muscles, too. (Which makes the muscles a little sore for the first few days, as can be expected.)After I chewed on this for a while the first time, when I was finished with it, my gums felt like I just flossed 15 times, and my jaw felt like the alignment was different (straightened out). I've also taken the time to stretch my jaws apart after lots of chewing, since chewing on this was basically just the 'concentric phase' of an exercise, and I didn't want the muscles to tighten up. Going from 'never focusing on chewing' to suddenly 'lots of chewing' needs to be approached like any other exercise, including stretching and being careful not over-do it.We humans can probably get a lot out of regular chewing exercise just like dogs do. Apparently, TMJ (lockjaw) results from the atrophy of these muscles, and doctors have directed their TMJ patients to jaw exercises. So here's another thing we can do to keep a totally overlooked set of muscles healthy. A couple of days after I started chewing on this grabber, I flossed my teeth (I hardly ever floss; I know, I know), and the flossing didn't stress my gums AT ALL--because my gums had been exercising and were stronger.**Update**2012-12-26 - It's no longer a workout for my jaw (the muscles have grown stronger and adapted), but the silicone HAS weakened enough to where those time texture nubs have started coming off. The nubs are about 1/8" x 3/16" oval-shapes, not really a choking hazard.**Update**2012-12-30 - Haha ... so okay, the nubs have continued to come off, and now the silicone on the long end isn't as 'springy'. In fact, it's losing its structural integrity on the inside, and starting to split (from the inside out), so this definitely won't last much longer. I'm having to be more gentle with it now for fear of tearing it open. I could always chew on the loop end (as I idly chew on it, as you would a pen, while typing here), but that's pretty awkward to chew on without using your hands too.**Update**2013-01-27 - Okay, so this is good, but it won't last. From the last update to now, whenever the end starts 'fraying', I cut it back with some scissors. By now, this slightly 'P' shaped chew toy has become more of a 'U'. I can see it would be possible (but difficult) for a child to bite (vigorously pull) off a chuck big enough to be a choking hazard, but not likely. As a parent, you'd just have to monitor it every once and a while. The 'nubs' do break off eventually, whenever they're in the current focus area, but even though they might end up in your kid's mouth, they are too small to be a choking hazard. So your kiddo might get a few tony pieces of silicone in his tummy, but he won't choke on it. I suppose any chew toy, no matter how awesome, will wear down eventually.

I’ve bought this for both of my babies and also as gifts. It’s amazing for teething and for sensory exploration. The P shape makes it very easy for little hands to hold onto, and to practice grasping and manipulating an object! Both of my babies starting using this around 4 months and loved it during their entire teething journey!