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I am writing this article because I have experienced myself how weighting (deep pressure) can help me and others (more explanation about how I experience this later). Also read about the origin of weighted aids and its effect on stimulus processing.
Weighting was actually invented by Dr. Temple Grandin. She is a professor and makes machines for livestock and farms that she designs herself. She also lectures around the world about autism and livestock/animal machines. She has autism herself and could not be cuddled. At the age of 18 she developed the squeeze machine in which she could lie down and exert deep pressure on her body for 2 plates and so she became calm. Before she invented the squeeze machine, she would lie under the couch or couch and have someone sit on top of the couch. This is how the calming effect of weighting was invented.
The effect of weighting (deep pressure) can best be compared to someone who gives you a firm hug and gives you comfort or peace so that you can move on for a while. Or a baby who is upset and who is wrapped in swaddling clothes or swaddled. Deep pressure gives a safe and relaxed feeling and you feel your body more connected. Because people with autism often feel their body as separate parts (detail-oriented), weighting can help your body feel better. But deep pressure can also help make people more alert when understimulated and thus contribute to better concentration. Weighting can also have a calming effect and reduce overstimulation or even make it disappear. By applying weighting you can also sleep better.
Your body works so much inside that deep pressure is a stimulus from your body inside that actually says: relax now. The nervous system and your body then relax by themselves. So with a full head or many questions, restless sleep, deep pressure / weighting can be helpful. Deep pressure is when you exert so much pressure on your body through body, hands, a blanket, a pressure vest, or otherwise, that you reach the deeper layers in the skin and the layers below it (connective tissue, muscles and tendons). If calming down is the goal, then you apply the pressure firmly and in a controlled manner.
Weighting continues until about 1 to 1.5 hours after the deep pressure has been applied. Holding on tightly, rubbing, wrapping tightly in a blanket, wearing a pressure vest, or lying under a heavy blanket are all ways to experience deep pressure. Hard work with your muscles, by carrying a heavy bag, pushing or pulling a heavy cart or by exercising, also gives deep pressure. Also read how to choose the right weight and how to use weighting effectively?
There are now many different tools for applying weighting. Here is an overview.
A weighted blanket can be compared to a baby who is swaddled or wrapped in cloths. It gives a calming and safe feeling as I wrote earlier in this article. You can get a weighted blanket in different weights. However, be careful not to look at your weight. But test it yourself and feel what feels best for you personally.
Some sellers even have weighted blankets with a zipper in the middle (you don’t feel it) so that you can also wash the weighted blanket in possibly 2 parts if your washing machine can’t handle this. Weighted blankets are usually (depending on which seller) filled with granules (this is best) or split peas and so on (but be careful like split peas they can make the blanket easier to sand open. The predecessor, the first weighted blanket that was made, consists of balls like a ball pool, but slightly smaller.
There are also weight vests and deep pressure vests. The effect of both is the same but the material and use is a bit different.
Weight vests are filled with weight bags such as 500 grams in each side of the vest. You can always add or remove weight by removing or adding the bags. The disadvantage is that these vests are heavy and you can’t wear them all day.
Pressure vests from, for example, squease, these also provide deep pressure like all other weighting aids mentioned. The advantage is that you can wear this deep pressure vest all day! This vest has been developed in such a way that it can be worn light and airy. You can wear it under or over your t-shirt and there is even a hooded vest for the adults who buy or rent a squease vest to zip the pressure vest in so that no one sees that you are wearing a vest.
-> Also read this blog with the top 3 weighting products
My 1st experience with deep pressure was when I heard something about this at a lecture about autism. I then looked up what weighting or deep pressure means. That’s how I ended up at the fun and inspiring webshop Educadora. I had a lot of questions about this and contacted Suzanne. What good advice I received. She is really thoughtful about what will help me best and all questions were answered very friendly and understanding!
I bought the senseez adjustables 3in1. I couldn’t wait to test the product! What a relief, that deep pressure did me so much good and the vibration also gave a relaxed feeling. I still sleep with it now. Lately I had more trouble falling asleep and staying asleep. I tried out a weighted blanket, as an addition to the senseez 3in1 pillow. When I watch TV in the evening I often have my weighted senseez pillow with me. That gives me a calm feeling. Weighted products help you feel secure.
The 10kg weighted blanket seemed like the perfect weight for me! I was able to try out the blanket for 2 weeks and if I didn’t like it I could exchange it for a heavier or lighter weighted blanket. I often had so much stress in the evening due to overstimulation or restlessness in my head and body, I had a lot of questions that I had to have answered and even then I lay awake for hours… now I fall asleep within 15 minutes! And those questions are gone, they can wait until the next day, and I get up in the morning rested and refreshed! What I could never have imagined before! There is now peace in my head and body when going to sleep, that’s what I dreamed of, and that dream has come true!
Also read this article about the application of weighting aids
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