Joanne Seymon joins The Toy Universe in this feature interview to discuss her unique journey and the innovative products she’s created with her autistic and dyslexic son, Kai.
Kaiko Fidgets, a Melbourne-based company, offers a range of discreet sensory tools designed to assist with mental health, anxiety, and focus for both adults and children. The company’s story began when Kai, at age 11, started making fidgets for himself, recognizing a gap in the market for suitable options.
Working alongside his mother, Joanne Seymon, an occupational therapist, Kai has developed a wide range of fidgets to cater to various needs. We’ll delve into the inspiration behind Kaiko Fidgets, the challenges and triumphs they’ve faced, and the positive impact these fidgets have had on individuals struggling with mental health and sensory issues.
Thank you for speaking with us Joanne. To begin, what inspired Kai to create Kaiko Fidgets, and how did his personal experiences shape the product designs?
Our son Kai, who is autistic and dyslexic, experienced bullying for using sensory supports in school. To help him find more suitable options, we collaborated on creating metal fidgets. Despite initial challenges, Kai’s creations were well-received by his peers, sparking his passion for fidget design. With my background as an occupational therapist, we expanded the range to meet diverse sensory needs, focusing on discreet tools for teens and adults. This journey has led to over seven years of innovation and growth.
How do Kaiko Fidgets cater to the specific sensory needs of both children and adults?
While our fidgets are suitable for all ages, we specifically focus on teens and adults. Our unique designs, materials, and broad range make us the leading provider of sensory tools for this age group. As a family-founded business, we prioritise innovation based on needs, rather than being constrained by large organisational processes. Our focus on function and meeting sensory needs outweighs commercial viability, allowing us to be agile and creative in product development without compromising quality or speed.
Kaiko Fidgets are designed to encourage, embrace, and support individuals of all ages in living their best lives. We provide sensory supports for everyday moments of overwhelm, stress, and dysregulation. We are committed to continuously evolving our products and collaborating with our customer community to address a broad range of sensory needs.
We specialise in addressing hidden needs, such as safe alternatives for non-suicidal self-harm like picking, hair twirling, and cutting. Our partnership with customers has led to the creation of several co-designed products, including the “Isla” fidget bookmark. Witnessing our customers’ ideas come to life is incredibly rewarding.
Can you explain the process behind selecting and designing the products in the Kaiko Fidgets range and how does the team ensure that they meet a broad spectrum of sensory needs across the market?
Our innovative approach is simple: we start with a need. This allows us to create unique sensory tools that go beyond the ordinary. We embrace a flexible and creative process, prioritising collaboration and feedback over rigid procedures. Our neuro-divergent, left-of-centre approach enables us to explore various options, test prototypes, and refine designs.
We use high-quality materials and continuously seek feedback on factors like feel, weight, colour, texture, and sensory experience. This ensures our products are both appealing and effective. We’re also dedicated to ongoing improvement, incorporating customer feedback to enhance our products.
What is the significance of Kaiko Fidgets being discreet and quiet, and why is this important for individuals with anxiety or sensory sensitivities?
For people of all ages, having fidgets that are discreet and unobtrusive is crucial for comfortable daily use. When a fidget tool can be used in various settings without drawing attention, it’s readily available in moments of need. Anxiety and stress can trigger a surge of cortisol and adrenaline, hindering cognitive function. Engaging in movement, such as fidgeting, can help to reduce these stress hormones and thus allowing the brain to focus. This is why fidgets, whether wearable or handheld, can be valuable tools for individuals of all ages.
And what are some of the most popular Kaiko products for managing anxiety?
Given the diversity of sensory preferences, we offer a wide range of fidgets to suit individual needs. Our best-selling Works Fidget Kit includes seven metal fidgets, providing options for exploration and preference discovery. Each fidget is discreet, quiet, and age-appropriate. Individual fidgets from the kit are also available for purchase.
Another popular choice is our Kaiko Fidget Hand Rollers, offered in various sizes, textures, colours, and weights. These versatile tools combine weight with fidgeting, providing a calming and repetitive sensory experience.
What types of sensory inputs do Kaiko Fidgets provide?
Our fidgets offer a variety of sensory experiences, including soft and squishy textures, spiky sensations, and repetitive movements. We also have tools that are cold, rough, or rolling, catering to different sensory preferences. Some fidgets require skill development, while others are designed for easy use. Our range supports both hand function and regulation, offering options in colour, texture, sound, and weight. We believe in the importance of variety, as even small differences can significantly impact sensory support. This approach differs from many businesses, which often advise minimising product ranges. While we appreciate this approach, we choose to prioritise offering a diverse selection of options.
How does Kaiko ensure that their products are both stylish and functional, particularly for teenagers and adults who may find traditional fidget tools noisy or embarrassing?
We build many of our range from ground up, in consultation with our community. We are not simply repurposing toys to be sensory tools. We build ground up -often designing or modifying in house in response to specific, identified needs and preferences. Colour, texture, weight, style, function and need are all heavily considered as part of the design, selection, development process. Most Importantly we don’t ASSUME to know what is needed, we listen, we ask and we test. We also continue to listen & that then informs product evolution and new innovation.
Can you explain the role as Kai’s mother, & as a trained Occupational Therapist in the development of the fidgets and the company’s mission?
A combination of my clinical O.T. background, as well as lived experience, both as a mother to two neurodivergent boys, as well as being a late diagnosed autistic and ADHD adult myself, has very much shaped my practical problem solving, passion for meeting needs in a functional way, and enabled me to unpack the sensory needs of others.
What makes Kaiko’s spikey range unique, and how do these fidgets aid in harm minimisation and emotional regulation?
We understand that discussing certain needs can be uncomfortable, but we believe it’s essential. For many, high sensory input or pain can be a valuable tool for regulation and grounding. Unfortunately, this often leads to unsafe practices that can result in shame, injury, or self-harm. Our Spikey range offers safe alternatives that validate these genuine sensory needs and provide tools that can be used anywhere to provide safe ‘ouch’.
The Spikey range includes finger spikeys, wrist spikeys, and our newest product, the Spikeyring. The Spikeyring, a dual-purpose tool for picking support and safe “ouch” input, took two years to develop to ensure the right level of stimulation. Despite its simple design, the Spikeyring reflects extensive thought and consideration.
By openly discussing these needs and providing safe tools, we aim to help individuals be kinder to themselves and validate their need for strong sensory input.
How does Kaiko Fidgets engage with customers and the community to understand their sensory needs and develop new products?
In addition to daily listening to customer questions, requests & feedback we also work with our broad range of stockists as well as organisations, such as Head Space, ambulance services, hospital networks, education & clinical teams, as well as other community groups to inform and shape our range.
Finally, for retailers who would like to get in touch with you about ranging your products, where can they contact the team at Kaiko?
We are very much happy to assist in curating a range based on your customer demographic and their needs. We are also happy to Zoom into team training sessions to show our range, understand function and how best to demonstrate.
At the top of our home page we have a wholesale enquiry link or you are welcome to email me directly via jo[@]kaikofidgets.com to get in touch!
This article originally appeared in Edition 12 of The Toy Universe Magazine
