I have contemplated weighted blankets for a while. They are usually highly recommended for developmentally disabled children and adults, or people of any age that engage in what appear to be restless repetitive behaviors. Look up pressure therapy for more info.
We have been getting by with weighted balls, and manually squishing Ash with a pillow. He loves it, and it really does calm him. Then on a trip to the dentist recently he got a bit over the top. He is a self biter and has pica, so it is easy to see how a trip to the dentist would overstimulate him. In the course of this frustrating visit, and not knowing what else to do, I asked the dentist's aide to fetch an adult size x-ray apron. We laid it over him in the chair and I said "Squish!". Ash repeated "Squish!", and giggled a bit. It calmed him down instantly. kiri decided we need to get us one of those aprons, and I chimed in with "without the lead!".
For us a boughten weighted blanket is prohibitively expensive. They can easily run over a hundred dollars for a smaller than twin size. I figured out how to make one easily enough. I have made a feather bed, I have mass produced sachet size bags, most of what I learned doing those things will stand me well with this project. Here is a website that does it pretty much as I figured, notice they also discovered the joys of the x-ray apron (G):
Now here is the tricky bit and the part I need help with. What do I fill it with?
The blanket absolutely must be washable. That lets out things like corn bran, buckwheat hulls, rice, or other organics. I fear that things like fish gravel or sand would be too hard on the fabric. On other websites I have found suggestions such as make one of plasticized canvas, fill it with sand, and then make what amounts to a duvet cover for it. Yeah, Ash cannot stand to leave the dust jacket on a book, I don't think a duvet cover would last ten minutes with him.
Thus far the idea I have found most intriguing is to use multiple layers of upholstery vinyl as you would quilt batting. My Pfaff, and maybe my Imperial could handle the sewing of it. I would have to quilt it fairly closely to eliminate the play of the fabric, there is no way Ash would be able to leave slidey fabric alone. I do not know how I could calculate the weight of the finished project with any accuracy though. Perfect would be in the realm of ten pounds or so. Yep our lad is _eleven_ now! and weighs near enough to a hundred pounds. One tenth body weight is the recommended for such things. Another thing that concerns me about this method is that while the vinyl would be washable, would it be practical to do so? Is it going to be flexible and durable enough to go through the washing machine? would I have to take it to a laundramat and put it through one of the big machines? would the only truly sensible thing be to take it to the cleaners? You really do not want anything that sees common use with an 11 year old boy to be dry clean only! You really really want kid stuff to be something you can chuck into the washer at the drop of a hat.
Give me some ideas people!
BTW we just had Ash's fall IEP meeting. He is doing stunningly well. His vocabulary has literally increased by 1000%, he interacts with his classmates even to calling them by name. His demonstrated reading vocabulary and associating what he reads with things and concepts has really taken off, to the point that when it is something he cannot say clearly he sometimes is able to write it down and show it to you. He is willingly participating in classroom activities. He has not attempted a jailbreak even once. He is way ahead of his class in pool, and enjoys swimming (yes actually swimming!) laps. The pool instructor says he is one of those kids that is part fish (G) They still have not been able to hire a permanent speech therapist, so the local district has to send one over. The district is not begrudging this as Ash is doing so very well, and I assume Ash doing well is going to look good on their state reports. The district rep even openly admitted that sending Ash to BOCES was indeed the best decision. Considering had he stayed in district that they were planning on building a time out room in the classroom he would have gone to just for him, I could not agree more! BTW that just horrified his current teacher. She cannot imagine Ash being a problem in the classroom. He is very well liked by both his classmates and his teachers. One of the recent class assignments for those who were able, was to write a couple of paragraphs about someone that you admire. One of the other boys chose Ash.
NightMist