I hear from customers who share their "Howda" stories and I know that my HowdaSeats have been used in all sorts of different ways - at picnics and concerts; on boats, benches, battle fields, beaches and mountain sides; in wheel chairs, cars, and trucks.

Sometime last year, I got a phone call from a parent who had been referred to me by an occupational therapist at a nearby school. The parent explained that the occupational therapist had been letting her students, who had sensory integration problems, use her HowdaSeat and found that the chair seemed to calm the children down and helped to keep them more focused.

I have to admit to being a little astonished by the call. Could this be true? I began to study-up on sensory integration disorders and the autism spectrum that includes aspergers, other attention related issues like, Attention Deficit Disorders (ADD), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and other undiagnosed conditions that just make kids fidgety. I saw one article that stated children needed the good old-fashioned "cradle and rock" to experience a sense of calm and safety.

ONE phone call. sent me back to the drawing board to design new sizes of my product, known as HowdaHUGS, for a whole new set of customers.

ONE phone call [turned wake-up call]. has changed my business overnight!

HowdaDesignz is a small company and we can't conduct "clinical trials" on our products. We could although gather some anecdotal evidence on the effectiveness of our HUGS, so we made our first HowdaHUG, then produced 100 and gave them away. Each person who received a HowdaHUG also was given a survey questionnaire to be returned after their "trial" period.

What we heard back was clear. There is need, there are benefits that the HUG seat has for children and there are good results from the first trial.

We have endorsements: A teacher called and said a little boy sat still for 11 minutes. He had never sat for longer than 1 minute. He was in a HowdaHUG.

A school purchased 10 and then called and said that the children could not get enough of their HowdaHUGs and they needed more.

A parent called and said she was watching her child sit still for the first time since he was born. He was 3. He was sitting in The Petite HowdaHUG.

A Principal called and said they put 2 in each classroom and the teachers wanted to have more for their students. So they are ordering another 2 for each classroom along with some standard HowdaSeats for the teachers to join them!

A father called and said his son was finishing his math assignments. He never had finished his work before. The father has donated 3 HowdaHUGs to the school.

All these children sitting in HowdaHUGs have the advantage of feeling free to move, to rock and to wiggle from side to side. In addition, the children experience calm from being embraced by the smooth wood slats pressed slightly against them.

I would be leaving out the best part if I did not add the gift this new finding has given to me. It is my hope now that there will fast be a way to help all these wonderful children. There is nothing more gratifying to know that my company, which has sometimes had to flight to stay alive, is at the helm in helping. We are set to care for kids.

We are dedicated to getting to more schools with our HUGs. We hope there will be interest from corporations, individuals and organizations to donate HUGs to schools so that more children may improve their school experience and schoolwork while embraced by a HUG.

Leslie Aisner Novak
HowdaDesignz