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A Chameleon Tale, Now Available!
A family of chameleons enjoy a vibrant adventure to the Chameleon Café and learn about their unique sensory processing and how to regulate their bodies.
Books change lives! People grow and change when they have examples they understand. Parents have been asking how to talk to their kids about sensory needs, especially when two kids in the same family have differing needs. Therapists have been asking for a resource to help families carryover communication about sensory needs outside of a session. And, kids want to know they aren’t alone in their struggles to meet expectations in different environments. This book is the answer!
The story follows a chameleon family as they take a trip out of their home to The Chameleon Cafe. Readers will learn by the chameleons’ color changes how the different family members respond to stimuli individually and regulate their bodies in different ways.
This book is a tool for families to build awareness surrounding the topics of sensory processing and sensory integration. Parents can use the story to start conversations about the sensory needs of each family member and how to seek out activities to self-regulate.
Every person has a different threshold for stimuli which allows for optimal alertness and receptivity during the activities the individual specifically needs and wants to complete.
Age Group Suggestion: 6-11 years
8.5×11 paperback, 32 pages
Synopsis
The story begins with the chameleon family in their treehouse, looking golden and sensory-regulated. Mama decides to take her kids on an adventure to the Chameleon Café. First, we see Seth, one of her children become dysregulated (turning blue) because the unfamiliar terrain makes him nervous. We see Mama help him calm down (co-regulate). He then turns golden again.
Meanwhile, his sister, Sally, needs more stimulation so she turns coral, showing that she is seeking sensory input. She sings and jumps on her tail before turning back to a calm, golden sensory color.
This sensory back-and-forth continues to be represented on the pages throughout the adventure to eat, and back again to the treehouse. Once the family is ready to go to bed, Mama turns blue as she processes her day and feels overwhelmed by the chaos of it.
In each sensory example, the characters are shown self-soothing (with scientifically backed methods) and the characters declaring that they knew just what to do, empowering each other on their sensory regulation journeys.
About the Authors
Sarah Collins
Sarah Collins, MSOT, OTR/L is an occupational therapist with a background in both pediatrics and home health, and a homeschooling parent. She currently serves families as a homeschool consultant through HomeschoolOT. She focuses on helping parents make the match between the homeschool and their children’s current skill set all while working towards what their children specifically need and want to do to occupy their time (hello occupation!). She does this by consulting with homeschool parents around the world, teaching classes on sensory processing, executive functioning, handwriting and communicating nationally at conferences.
This is Sarah’s first book designed to further open the conversation about sensory processing between parents and children.
Jackie Adrian
Jackie Adrian is an author, illustrator, and visual artist who creates work focused on celebrating the “wild and weird” in all of us, inviting us to be more ourselves. She currently resides in the suburbs of DC but has lived in six different states and has traveled to more than 30 countries. This slightly nomadic existence has given her perspective on the root commonalities we can find in different cultures and landscapes. Her art and writing aim to celebrate this with vivid color combinations and uplifting words of affirmation. Her art is playful while her words are soul-stabilizing.
After earning a degree in Marketing, and then an MBA, she worked in marketing and
business development for 20 years. In 2021 she started drifting more toward her artistic vocation. Starting a small online shop to share her art, and independently publishing her first two books in the first half of 2023, her books and artwork are in several independent bookstores and boutiques around the US, accomplished without agent representation or publisher. She was one boutique’s “Artist of the Year” in 2024. She is a member of SCBWI, and has participated in bookfests, multiple classroom visits, collage events, raffles, and school fundraisers with her books, as well as art events featuring her art and books.