UnPuzzled Parents Connect Launches Hospital Sensory Care Kit Initiative

When a mother faced an unexpected emergency, she realized the critical need for better support for families with children and individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Whitney Price, the founder and executive director of UnPuzzled Parents Connect, launched a new statewide initiative to address this gap.

Price, who previously focused on training first responders, now aims to equip hospitals with essential resources to help children and individuals with disabilities during emergency visits. The initiative, called the Hospital Sensory Care Kit program, seeks to provide tangible support to families who find themselves in sudden, stressful situations.

The kits will contain a duffle bag filled with items designed to address sensory regulation, communication, comfort, and basic overnight needs. Each kit will include noise-cancelling headphones, a weighted blanket, sunglasses, a sensory stuffed animal, sensory toys and regulation tools, an AAC mock communication book, and toiletries and personal care items. The communication book is particularly important for individuals who are nonspeaking or rely on augmentative and alternative communication devices that may not be available during an emergency.

The organization recently received a startup grant, providing the initial funding to begin developing the kits. UnPuzzled Parents Connect is now working toward an additional fundraising goal of $7,000 to provide its first 50 Hospital Sensory Care Kits.

The initiative builds upon UnPuzzled Parents Connect's existing First Responder Training Program, which provides education and awareness to law enforcement officers, emergency personnel, and other community professionals about interacting with individuals with autism and developmental disabilities. The expansion recognizes that emergency preparedness does not end when an individual arrives at the hospital. While training helps first responders better understand disability-related needs, the Hospital Sensory Care Kits will provide hospital personnel with tangible resources that can be made available immediately to patients and families.

UnPuzzled Parents Connect is currently seeking hospital partnerships, corporate sponsors, individual donors, and community organizations interested in helping launch the initiative.

UnPuzzled Parents Connect is a West Virginia nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting families raising children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The organization's long-term goal is to establish partnerships with hospitals throughout the state, creating a network of facilities equipped with these resources.