For the love of Connor

Inspired by her son, a Curran mom creates a soothing solution for an oral fixation

Connor was a bright and happy baby who learned quickly and loved looking at books, being outside and spending time in the water.  

 

To the shock of his mother, Anne-Marie Chartrand, Connor was diagnosed with epilepsy following a grand mal seizure and later on, with level 2 autism.

 

“I was feeling very emotional and in disbelief of the results,” says Chartrand, a Curran resident who works at Health Canada. “Autism is challenging at first—it is something to adjust your life to.” She worried where she would find the resources and the help her son would need.

 

Wanting to find a product that would help Connor with his oral fixation “and stop the chewing of the objects that aren’t meant to be chewed,” Chartrand says, “I tried all of the products online and in store. The objects were either too hard to chew for a child with barely any teeth, and the products were just equally unsafe. The products were cheap.” After she failed to find a suitable product, Chartrand dreamed up a product and created her first Sensory Chewing Neck Gaiter for Connor.

 

Made of silicone (the prototype was made from silicone from a pair of oven mitts), a light material and Velcro, the Sensory Chewing Neck Gaiter was a success. “The following day, Connor was chewing on the Sensory Chewing Neck Gaiter,” says Chartrand.

 

Worn around the neck, the gaiter “soothes, calms, and improves focus for the child,” says Chartrand. “It is designed to help children who often don’t have control on the habit of chewing or grinding teeth on non-edible items. The Sensory Chewing Neck Gaiter is a simple, yet revolutionary band that promotes a stress-free environment and improves sensory processing.”

 

When a child chews on the soft, rubbery silicone part, it provides a calming feeling as well as protection for the child’s teeth, says Chartrand. The material below the rubber keeps clothing dry from saliva. The Velcro closure ensures safety for the child wearer, thereby preventing choking hazards.

 

Now six years old, Connor still uses the neck gaiter today. “It does provide him comfort and soothes his nervous system and helps with transitions during his day at school in Grade 1,” Chartrand says. “When things are hard, he just grabs the gaiter that’s loosely hanging around his neck and chews it when he is in need of soothing. It also helps with oral fixation which is related to the nervous system.”

 

Patent pending in Canada and the U.S. since March 2021, the gaiter continues to keep Chartrand busy. She now works with a small team, but her company continues to run out of her home. As for Connor—who his mother describes as a big fan of his iPad, playing PS4 with his 19-year-old sister and going off-roading— “he remains,” says his mother, “the inspiration behind the sensory chewing neck gaiter.”