Sometimes You Just Need a Hug
In the back-and-forth about 13-year-old Adam Race, deep pressure was mentioned as a technique to help calm an autistic individual. Animal science professor and author Temple Grandin has frequently noted the calming effects of deep pressure, “type of surface pressure that is exerted in most types of firm touching, holding, stroking, petting of animals, or swaddling.” Grandin invented a “squeeze machine” so she could self-administer deep pressure. Special weighted vests, blankets, and other articles of clothing have also been created. Brian Mullen, a doctoral student in mechanical engineering recently won the $50,000 UMass Amherst Technology Innovation Challenge for a new “self-hugging vest is being developed
For a few months in town we used to live in, Charlie wore a weighted vest. While it gave him kind of a Renaissance look, the vest did not seem to help him too much one way or the other to allay his anxiety or behavior. Charlie tends to seek out deep pressure on his own, whether by wrapping himself up tightly in a fleece blanket (it was a revolution a few years ago when he started to do this), or sinking to the bottom of the swimming pool to feel the water over him, or, as he did the other day, sandwiching himself between the mattress and boxsprings of his bed.
Maybe that’s the extra-special ingredient: Charlie being in charge of when he gets deep pressure and when he doesn’t. He knows when he needs it and he’s figured out how to get it, too—-so, once again, thank goodness for polar fleece.
Tags: asd, asperger, autism, autism blog, deep pressure, doublet, Health, kids blog, Parenting, pdd-nos, relaxation, vestRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Sensory, Technology, clothes
17 opinions for Sometimes You Just Need a Hug
Kathy
May 23, 2008 at 8:04 pm
Very interesting Kristina.
Some time ago we tried deep pressure techniques(as suggested by his OT) on Mark. We found too, that these did not make much difference.However as in Charlie’s case Mark wraps himself tightly in his fleecy blanket when he feels the need. It seems to soothe and comfort him. He likes his head to be covered as well.
He will also cover himself with cushions from the sofa from time to time.
Kristina Chew, PhD
May 23, 2008 at 8:20 pm
Charlie does that too–kieand of buries himself under the cushions of the sofa. The self-sandwiching in his mattress was a first; he thought it quite hilarious (I did too). And Charlie’s also been careful to cover his head with a corner of the blanket for the full fleece effect, I guess you could say.
goodfountain
May 23, 2008 at 8:35 pm
My DD responds well to deep pressure. She regularly asks us for hugs. It’s generally always when she’s upset and she’ll say, “I need a hug.” If I don’t give her a ‘proper’ one, she’ll says, “I need a squishy, squishy hug.” Often times she’ll ask for 10 hugs. I love the fact that she knows what she needs and she asks for it. And I never get tired of doling out the hugs.
Jennifer
May 23, 2008 at 10:04 pm
I have a student whose sensory system does not react the way an OT expects it to — despite what every OT has said about them being self-contradictory, for any kind of calming effect, M must wear both a pressure vest and a weighted vest.
Simultaneously.
However, in her primary 1-3 class, the vests were used reactively after her behavior had escalated — so it took me a good three months to convince her they weren’t punishments.
About the mattress — another of my students tried to roll himself up in our rug one morning. (I had him sandwich himself between two floor mats in our quiet corner instead…no one would step on him there :-).)
Marcie
May 24, 2008 at 1:59 pm
I don’t know if a weighted vest would work for me if it didn’t give some sort of input to the forearms too. Some morning I don’t want to get out of bed because I have my arms tucked underneath me. I’m currently experimenting with ways to take care of this while being able to do other things at the same time.
William
May 24, 2008 at 7:31 pm
@goodfountain
“…she’ll say, “I need a hug.” If I don’t give her a ‘proper’ one, she’ll says, “I need a squishy, squishy hug.” Often times she’ll ask for 10 hugs. I love the fact that she knows what she needs and she asks for it. And I never get tired of doling out the hugs.”
Thank God for children that ask for hugs.
Double thank God for people willing to give them.
Kristina Chew, PhD
May 24, 2008 at 9:03 pm
Thanks very much.
Charlie on the Hudson
May 25, 2008 at 12:55 am
[…] 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, […]
Suzanne Hillman
May 30, 2008 at 3:42 pm
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…
Kristina Chew, PhD
May 30, 2008 at 4:31 pm
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.
Storkdok
May 30, 2008 at 5:56 pm
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.
Regan
May 30, 2008 at 6:11 pm
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.
Kristina Chew, PhD
May 30, 2008 at 6:41 pm
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.
Regan
May 30, 2008 at 6:48 pm
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.
Marcie
May 30, 2008 at 7:17 pm
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.
Kristina Chew, PhD
May 31, 2008 at 12:21 am
Am not a deep-pressure self-swaddler myself—-Marcie, your comment has got me meditating!
lacey
Jul 24, 2008 at 12:59 am
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.
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