About Us

Bringing a Smile to a Child's Face:

A Grandmother's Story

Why did I start armbraces.com?

Like other grandparents and parents of special
needs children, we didn't request to go down the
road of special equipment, special education,
special doctors, and special circumstances.

But apparently we were chosen.

Our beautiful granddaughter was born with Rett Syndrome. We spent the first few years
trying to master a new vocabulary -all these "unique" words, most of which we had never
heard before: hand mouthing, hand wringing, scoliosis, AFO's (ankle-foot orthotics),
bruxim, apnea, apraxia, and gait.

One issue that perplexed us was the need for an arm brace to prevent our
granddaughter from mouthing her hand.

Early on, we had success with the wrist guards skaters use to protect their wrists while
rollerblading. These braces were soon outgrown, however, and we found ourselves
searching for a solution-something that didn't look so "medical."

Finally, with my mom's help, we devised an arm brace utilizing the plastic stays that were
inside the wrist guards. Because the brace wasn't washable, we had to make them often.
As my granddaughter grew, so did the strength in her arm, and soon one plastic stay was
no longer sufficient to keep her from hand-mouthing.

A friend of mine (the mother of a daughter with Rett) was describing an arm brace she
had seen, and she asked me if I could sew. I told her I was "allergic" to sewing
machines-even though my mom and my two sisters all are excellent seamstresses, I never
really enjoyed sewing. After this friend made an arm brace for my granddaughter, I
decided to embrace sewing-and to take it a step further.

I made arm braces for my granddaughter in solid colors to match her wardrobe and in fun
bright prints. Then, I decided to make them in holiday-themed prints.

When I took my granddaughter to school I noticed that all the other kids started hanging
around, admiring her arm brace. My granddaughter was smiling and really enjoying the
attention. As the holidays came and went, the kids were waiting and watching to see
which arm brace she would be wearing. It made my heart feel good to see that she was
getting pleasure from her arm brace-something that most of us wouldn't even want to
wear.

Arm restraints are necessary for some children, and sometimes they cause attention of a
negative kind. I realized that the bright, colorful arm braces I created could be the source
of positive attention instead-so I founded armbraces.com. My desire is to provide a good
product, one that will bring a smile to the face of a special child.
.