Our Story
Our Story
Created By Loving Parents Of Three Amazing Autistic Boys
Hello! My name is Jody and my partner Marty and I opened Sensory Oasis for Kids in 2015 when we saw a huge need for affordable and accessible Sensory Resources in Australia.
Marty and I have three sons, and in 2012 all three of them were diagnosed as being on the Autism Spectrum. At that time, we knew nothing about Autism and had no idea what the future would bring for our family, and we struggled for quite a while to get our heads around it all as it was a lot to take in. But after years of learning, therapy and connecting with other families like ours we have come such a long way in our journey, also discovering so many more things about our very Neurodivergent family.
A quiet, calm life is definitely not the norm in our noisy, crazy house!
Not only are our gorgeous boys Autistic, they all have Sensory Processing Disorder, severe Anxiety and two of them also have ADHD and one has OCD. A quiet, calm life is definitely not the norm in our noisy, crazy house! Through our kids’ diagnoses, Marty and I have recognised our own personal neurodiversities and it has really deepened our understanding and compassion for those in our Neurodiverse Community.
The name of the store, Sensory Oasis for Kids (SOK), is inspired by our sons’ initials – Sebastian, Oliver & Kobe, who are the inspiration for doing what we do.
Marty and I are truly passionate about supporting other families in the community like ours and we work hard to make our store a welcoming, safe and calm space for families to visit. We proudly employ Neurodivergent staff and you will also often find our own kids in the store chatting to people and recommending things that they love. Opening the shop has been an amazing way for them to develop their social, executive functioning and communication skills, and I am so proud when I see them connecting with people and how far they have come.
Our bright and welcoming store in Altona North gives families a chance to come in, bring the kids, and try things out before you buy them.
We are super kid-friendly and the shop gets messed up on a daily basis by happy children (and adults!) enjoying squishing, squeezing and playing with everything. It absolutely makes my heart sing when I hear kids say ours is their favourite store in the world!
We hope that you can visit us in person but if you are unlucky enough and live too far away, our whole range of sensory toys and tools, educational products, puzzles, games, fidgets, books, chewies and more are available here on our website. If you can’t find what you are after, please send me a message and I will see what I can do!
Thank you for visiting my site, I hope you find it helpful and discover what you are looking for as well as discover new inspiration for things that may be helpful to you and your family.
