Comments on: Sometimes You Just Need a Hug

By: lacey

lacey — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 04:59:19 +0000

We have had great success with the weighted blanket we received for our daughter. Her sleep has improved at least 85%. She has never responded well to a weighted or pressure vest, but the blanket has been great. We have had the blanket for more than 3 and a half years and purchased from Dreamcatcher Weighted Blankets.
it was custom made for her and a wonderful product.

By: Kristina Chew, PhD

Kristina Chew, PhD — Sat, 31 May 2008 04:21:17 +0000

Am not a deep-pressure self-swaddler myself—-Marcie, your comment has got me meditating!

By: Marcie

Marcie — Fri, 30 May 2008 23:17:24 +0000

There’s a yin-yang effect to the senses. When a sense is wide open, it’s wide open to the good *and* the bad. The more open, the more “picky” a person is probably going to be.

By: Regan

Regan — Fri, 30 May 2008 22:48:18 +0000

I can see that, but she’s 11 pushing 12, so it could be the way that she’s wired, at least for now. Could change, but there have been folks who have tried the vests and wraps and found out Eleanor’s personal druthers to their chagrin.

My older daughter, on the other hand, is a deep-pressure, self-swaddle kind of person. She doesn’t have an autism diagnosis, but ADHD.

By: Kristina Chew, PhD

Kristina Chew, PhD — Fri, 30 May 2008 22:41:25 +0000

Charlie did not like “the squeezie stuff” when he was a baby and toddler. I tried to “swaddle” him and he’d always kick the blankets off. It was when he was about 5-6 that he started to seem to like the deep pressure more and even to seek it out for himself.

By: Regan

Regan — Fri, 30 May 2008 22:11:53 +0000

I don’t want to sound like the voice of contrariness because I am a deep-pressure and hug hound, but Eleanor is not a fan of the squeezie stuff. We tried those things early on under advice of an OT and again more recently, and it was no soap. In her case it exacerbates anxiety rather than relieving it, so I need to be careful to point this out to some folks who assume that this is always comforting to autistic kids. Different strokes for different folks.

By: Storkdok

Storkdok — Fri, 30 May 2008 21:56:24 +0000

My son likes deep pressure. We found that the bear hug vest worked better for even pressure around his trunk and over the shoulders. The weighted vest just hung from his shoulders and didn’t give him the input he needed.

Alex also likes the pool for the sensory experience. He goes every Thursday morning and the aide says he is the most “on” after swimming.

By: Kristina Chew, PhD

Kristina Chew, PhD — Fri, 30 May 2008 20:31:15 +0000

Charlie definitely likes to wrap himself up in a fleece blanket and to get under the cushions of the couch, too. He doesn’t do the going to the bottom of the pool as much as he used to; he’s always really relaxed while sinking down and then slowly floating back up.

By: Suzanne Hillman

Suzanne Hillman — Fri, 30 May 2008 19:42:36 +0000

It never occurred to me that bottom of swimming pool seeking might relate to being squished (I usually do this with lots of blankets, or people if available). I tended to think of it as because it was _quiet_. But I bet it was also pressure-related. Haven’t had opportunity to do that in a while…

By: Charlie on the Hudson

Charlie on the Hudson — Sun, 25 May 2008 04:55:22 +0000

[...] out what to do. And I closed the book and rubbed Charlie’s back, up and down his spine, deep enough. We’ve traveled far with Charlie and I know we’re still at the beginning of a long, [...]