Pottstown Featured Business: Prince's Sensory Delights

Susan Donohoe wanted to improve the quality of life for children with special needs, their families, caretakers and medical professionals.

As a practicing occupational therapist for 30 years, Donohoe saw firsthand how everyday clothes restricted, bothered and distracted children with special needs.

Some children with autism, for example, are irritated by clothing seams and tags. Others find comfort in heavier garments.

Mainstream clothing does not accommodate a baby or toddler who has a feeding tube, or a child that needs to wear an outfit free of metal snaps for a medical procedure such as a magnetic resonance imaging test.

To address those and other problems, Donohoe in 2006 founded Prince’s Sensory Delights. The Pottstown area company, which sells its clothes online, supports Autism Speaks and the Sensory Processing Disorder Foundation.

"The biggest thing for a child is to have fun while they're having therapy," Donohoe said. 

Donohoe and her business partner Tina Borns Sayles -- a children’s clothing designer for over 15 years -- created a line of sportswear and products that are therapeutic and practical for children with special needs.

"I had wanted to do this for years and years," Donohoe said of creating the unique clothing line. 

The clothing offers special features including soft and tactile pleasing fabrics, outside seams, elastic waistlines for independent dressing and the ability to add weights that comfort some children.

"(Weight) sends messages to the brain ... for calming, organizing," Donohoe said. 

The company also sells weighted blankets and sensory bean bags.

"It just keeps them so calm," she said. "We try to listen to the kids ... The function of the child is so important to me."

To learn more, read Donohoe's "Sensory Processing Disorder: What it is and how to EMPOWER our children."