She likes to be crushed

[skye]

Hi, My DD loves to be crushed. I rolled over on her on accident and now she asks me to do it over and over. She says she likes being crushed and it takes the pressure away? I am not sure what this means but I am sure I have read about it relating with ASD's in the past. Should I be getting her a weighted blanket or something? I just wondered if any one else has the same kind of issue. Thanks, Skye

[Moll]

Hi, My DD loves to be crushed. I rolled over on her on accident and now she asks me to do it over and over. She says she likes being crushed and it takes the pressure away? I am not sure what this means but I am sure I have read about it relating with ASD's in the past. Should I be getting her a weighted blanket or something? I just wondered if any one else has the same kind of issue. Thanks, Skye

 

 

When on a course recently we talked about this the other thing that was sugested was pressure vests like sports people wear look at preassure vest on ebay its tight fitting and can be worn under normal clothes. they do them in childrens sizes I just can't find any at the moment

 

ETA look at surf vest

Edited April 4, 2009 by Moll

[Sally44]

Is that her only sensory behaviour? Have you looked at Sensory Integration Disorder. Is an OT involved with your daughter.

I would recommend a book by a woman called Olga Bogdashina called Sensory and Perceptual Differences in Autism and Aspergers. There is also a caregivers questionnaire at the back of this book that our Autism Outreach Department uses, so I know it is reputable.

My son also likes this. He says 'it breaks my strings'. So if he is very upset he might lie on the bed and I might roll up and down him or just lie on top of him.

Temple Grandin also invented the hug machine for this very same reason.

And if course her sensory perception can fluctuate throughout the day.

I also find that my son cannot multi task from a sensory point of view. Eg. often if he is holding a cup and I talk to him he drops it ie. he cannot listen and continue to monitor his body holding the cup. He can listen or talk, but not look at you at the same time. He cannot play computer games ie. look at the screen and manipulate the controls.

All these types of difficulties can have an impact on their education and whether they can access learning in the classroom environment, so it is worth delving into how she experiences things.

As she is verbal start to explain to her that she may see, hear, smell or feel things differently to you.

I also have sensory issues, but not an ASD. I feel touch as pain, and touch remains for minutes after being touched. I don't comb or brush my hair, I have to wear only natural fibres, no lace/tags etc. I am always in the same type of clothing and if I change and get used to that I always stay in that type of clothing, so seasonal changes feel very strange ie. bare arms and legs. Smells make me vomit and I find public transport very hard to tolerate because of smells of perfum and hairspray and plastic seats etc.

So I would recommend you look into the whole sensory thing and have a word with the OT. They do have equipment they can lend out, but they have to assess for it first. It took 2 years for my son to be seen by an OT, but get your name on the list and start complaining about waiting times. You could also get a private OT in to assess if you think you need more immediate advice.

[Sally44]

Oh, one more thing. I frequently appear deaf. I don't know why, but I am frequently being tapped by my husband (or someone else) saying that they have been talking to me and I haven't heard them. Autistic children do this alot as well.

If your child has sensory issues, these also seem closely related to Auditory Processing Disorder and auditory processing delays and problems processing auditory information, which you might want to look at to see if they are relevant.

Tito, another famous autistic boy had no body sensation at all. So his system was totally hypo. He says that he only knew he was alive when he could see his shadow move.

Out of interest, does she has any problems with internal sensations such as feeling hungry/thirsty. Is she toilet trained? These are all internal sensations that some autistic adults like Donna Williams, have said that they have difficulty feeling or don't feel at all.

[skye]

Wow thanks for all of the information. I am not sure if she has problems with internal sensations. She has always drank an excessive amount of Orange Juice. She recently seems hungry all of the time now, but I think she is just growing. She has a very very hard time sleeping properly and wakes up screaming most nights. She does have other sensory issues around her mouth and clothes etc. I will check into all of this. Thanks again to Moll and Sally for taking the time to reply. I will check in to the pressure vests as well. Have a good one. -Skye

[bid]

You can make a weighted blanket quite easliy: take a duvet cover and sew chanels lengthways. Then fill with something like rice, sewing across the duvet cover as you go so that you are creating pockets as you work your way up the blanket.

 

This has been done at work for one student and seems to work well.

 

Bid

[skye]

You can make a weighted blanket quite easliy: take a duvet cover and sew chanels lengthways. Then fill with something like rice, sewing across the duvet cover as you go so that you are creating pockets as you work your way up the blanket.

 

This has been done at work for one student and seems to work well.

 

Bid

 

Thanks for the info Bid! I looked online and couldn't find the full single blanket for anything under �100!! A bit out of my budgt but I may try the duvet cover method. Sounds pretty easy and a lot less expensive.

Skye

 

[lynne]

 

 

You can also buy a double blanket (one your child likes). get the same size cotton lining and either lines on weights you use to weight down curtains or you can make pockets and sew polypellets or the other things that have been suggested. You than fold this in half and sew this in between the blanket. Or you can use press studs to secure it so the weights can be removed for cleaning.

 

For my child who was 10 I sewed 5lbs of weights for curtains and the blanket and inner lining weighted 5lbs.

 

I washed my sons blankets with the weights in it.

[skye]

Thanks for the suggested Lynne. I am definitely going to try to make my very own blanket! Hopefully it come out ok, Cheers Skye

[Aaryk Noctivagus]

You can make a weighted blanket quite easliy: take a duvet cover and sew chanels lengthways. Then fill with something like rice, sewing across the duvet cover as you go so that you are creating pockets as you work your way up the blanket.

 

I thought this was a great idea so I read it to my wife. Her first reaction was... 'And what do you do when it needs to be washed'. I cracked up and we both had the giggles... can you imagine a blanket of soggy rice - lol.

 

I still think its a great idea, if an alternative to something like rice can be found - something that'll be fine on wash day. My son is 5 and loves pressure (as do I for that matter) - there is something very relaxing about it. Being 5... the blanket would certainly need to be washable.

 

Sorry for the fly in the ointment.

 

[Jannih]

Hi, My DD loves to be crushed. I rolled over on her on accident and now she asks me to do it over and over. She says she likes being crushed and it takes the pressure away? I am not sure what this means but I am sure I have read about it relating with ASD's in the past. Should I be getting her a weighted blanket or something? I just wondered if any one else has the same kind of issue. Thanks, Skye

 

This is really embarrassing, but up to the age of 17, I would not or could not go to sleep without having my mum tuck me up in bed really tight.

 

Of course you'll be pleased to know that I graduated to a duvet, but it has to be a heavy one, pulled in around me.

 

So before you go forking out money for weighted blankets try tucking her in really tight.

[NobbyNobbs]

i'm considering getting my cousin (qualified in costume design, so she can sew) to make me a blanket. i was going to buy one, but i can't stand the idea of spending £100 on a weighted blanket and then not liking the feel of the fabric. this way i will be able to choose what i want, feel it before i buy and know it will be right. i plan to buy the polypellets from a craft shop, which will make the blanket washable.

 

it certainly sounds like a good route to go down since your daughter seems to have a strong preference for deep pressure. you can always see if someone reasonably local has one you could borrow to see if she likes it.

[Sally44]

As well as weighted blankets, and tucking in tight at night, your OT department may be able to loan you certain weighted equipment. But they do need to assess first.

And there are also lots of other sensory stuff that might turn out to be useful to be done in school ie. she might find it helpful to push against a wall, or pull on a piece of rope. One boy used to push a box of books around. The sensory system (and I don't know a whole lot about it), isn't just about perceiving things (although that is a large part of it), it is also about getting your body into a state where it is ready to do things or ready to stop doing things. And also about being at an optimum state to actually learn. So how the senses are all integrated and working to give the correct information to the brain to process is very important.

There are also many children with ASDs that cannot multi task from a sensory point of view. In extreme cases this is called mono-processing. So a child might be able to focus on doing something but be unable to register anyone or anything in its environment at the same time - and how many of our kids appear deaf?? They cannot keep all the sensory channels open at the same time. Some children cannot look and listen at the same time. That is what alot of avoiding eye contact is about. It isn't just about feeling uncomfortable, it is about 'if I look at you I won't be able to hear what you say at the same time'. And multi sensory functioning is crucial for learning in the classroom. How many of our children make 'wrong connections' because their sensory systems are processing out of time, or they cannot get all the sensory information relevant to the thing being done in 'real time' to process it. So some things are processed later and get attached to other totally unconnected information. This can cause some bizarre behaviour, which is logical and normal for an ASD child. For example a child called Tito talks about being frightened by seeing something whilst sitting on the grass in his back garden. After that incident he would have a meltdown whenever he walked on grass because it was associated with the fear of the original event eventhough the grass sensation was in no way related to the incident that happened.

[lisac]

sally, what you say makes a hell of a lot of sense. It has never explained like that before, where did you learn this, and thank you, x

[Sally44]

sally, what you say makes a hell of a lot of sense. It has never explained like that before, where did you learn this, and thank you, x

 

Whilst we were in the process of having my son assessed towards a diagnosis, our Autism Advisory Teacher had organised a seminar by a woman called Olga Bogdashina. She has written a number of very good insightful books. One is about Sensory and Perceptual Differences in Autism and Aspergers. Another one is about language and communications differences for those with ASDs, and the final one is about Theory of Mind for those with ASDs. I haven't read them all yet!

 

But I too have alot of sensory issues, although I am not on the spectrum. I also have central auditory processing disorder. My son also has SID and CAPD. In many ways he is a more exaggerated form of myself. But obviously he also has the autistic wiring and therefore thinks and learns in a different way. But I suppose I have been fortunate in some ways to have a kind of insight into what some of his problems might be. For example I frequently appear deaf. I have no idea why. Usually I am thinking about something. But when that happens I become totally unaware of everything else to the extent that to get my attention you would need to touch me or shout my name a couple of times. I am also touch sensitive and can feel light touch as pain. And I can feel where I have been touched for up to a minute afterwards. So imagine the accumulation of touch feeling as pain that an autistic child can have?? I have problems with fabrics, smells, balance etc.

 

And i've also tried to find out as much information as I can first hand from autistic adults. They can give you the best clue as to how your child experiences things. There are alot of adults on the spectrum trying to tell us what it is like. But up until recently it seems to not have been listened to.

 

And I just became a bit of a detective as to what could be causing my son to do the things he was doing. What part of the process was breaking down or not there. For example, there have been a number of times when my son has been holding a drink or a toy and when I speak to him he drops it and then throws a tantrum. And he then blames me for making him drop the drink/toy. So what has happened? If I take what my son says as true. Then he is suggesting that in some way, when I speak to him, it causes him to lose the 'attention' his body had of holding the cup/toy. Now that becomes very interesting. What are the implications of this in a typical classroom.

I have also given up letting him drink or eat whilst sitting on the settee watching TV because experience tells me that he will drop that drink and food because he cannot self monitor himself and watch TV. So he has to be sat at the table with his food and drink on the table if he is also watching TV. That works. But what are the implications of this in the classroom environment?? I did get a private OT to come and assess my son both in school and at home. Her findings were that when he was occupied with something he became totally unaware of what was being asked of him. And that he could only do one thing at a time. So if you wanted him to listen and answer questions you would have to stop him from whatever he was doing and tell him that you wanted him to listen. But our classrooms are not geared up for this. It is all about bombarding all of the senses all of the time. That seems to be the current approach in school. If a child is struggling with that it is hard to adapt the environment or teaching method to take these types of difficulties into consideration.

Infact, there is evidence that autistic children, wrongly diagnosed as deaf, tend to do better in schools for the deaf because the support systems used to support deaf children also support autistic children.

 

Another thing I noticed similar to me was how my son behaved in social situations. Back in the 1990's I moved to Greece and lived there for over 7 years. At the time I moved to Greece I did not speak the language, although I did learn it eventually. But interestingly, my behaviour became quite autistic in a foreign country with a language and culture I did not understand. For example I would avoid groups or groups discussions because I could not follow them. Any attempt to communicate was only made one to one. I would also visit coffee shops and listen in to conversataions and watch people (this seemed to be the language equivalent of playing alongside). I would also seek out English people just to be able to listen to them speak, although I never attempted to talk to them. I made many errors with literal interpretation of language. My language processing was always seconds behind everyone else and trying to concentrate on what was being said would frequently give me a headache. And when you don't understand what is being said, what expression should you have on your face. Should you sit politely smiling whilst the person next to you is talking about how her cat died?? I couldn't concentrate for more than 5 minutes at a time and would make my excuses to leave. I also learnt language by how it sounded or felt right, rather than learning the individual words or the grammer (similar to echolalia or gestalt learning). And I remember how happy I was when I understood a joke at the time it was actually said and laughed at the same time as everyone else. So, I believe alot of autistic behaviour is down to an inability or difficulty in both learning and processing language. Indeed it has been said that an autistic person is a foreigner in any country. And I did read an article recently about an autistic savant who, although he can learn a new language within a week, prefers to live abroad because his autistic percularities are always put down to 'being a foreigner'.

[lisac]

Fascinating. My son is 22 and it is all relevant to him. Ive learnt more from this, than anyone or anywhere else, ive ordered the books,

[skye]

Great to see this one is still going. Thanks to everyone for the ideas. I am going to try to tuck her in really good tonight and see what haappens. I also agree about multi sensory issues. My daughter seems to act deaf and things too. I am going to try to look more into sensory issues. Thanks, Skye

[Sally44]

Fascinating. My son is 22 and it is all relevant to him. Ive learnt more from this, than anyone or anywhere else, ive ordered the books,

 

I know Olga does do talks all over the UK. She is from the Ukraine and is trained as a linguist. She runs a school for autistic children/adults in the Ukraine. She has a daughter with Aspergers and a son with autism. I think she spends her time in the UK based at the University of Birmingham.

There is alot of debate and interest about fluctuating sensory perception between hyper sensitive and hypo sensitive. And a child can fluctuate between the two throughout the day in any or all of the senses. So my son might cover his ears if I turn the vaccum cleaner on, but later in the day be quite happy popping balloons and then later may appear deaf when I call his name!

Donna Williams (adult with autism), is a firm believer that being hypo is more difficult that hyper because with hypo the information is not getting through at all. I think that being hyper can be just as bad because it can cause sensory shutdown where the person retreats into themselves and effectively turns off all sensory input (effectively the same as being hypo). She also talks about trying to teach using gesture instead of always getting the child to keep swopping sensory channels eg. look/listen/look/listen etc. With gesture you can keep looking whilst also teaching and not have to switch channels. For some children just the switching of sensory channels can cause them to lose their place in the process of things and they have to start again from the beginning.

Another suggestion I found very useful by Donna Williams was that when I was talking to me son about something she said not to address him but to address the object in hand as this stops the disconnection from the object to the person. So if he was making a model I wouldn't say 'what are you making John', I would saying something like 'great model' and then he might respond 'train' and so our conversation would continue about the object. If I asked him 'what are you doing' he might throw a tantrum because I had broken his concentration. Of course that was a while ago. And he has made enormous improvements in all areas since then. But the difficulties of swopping channels and processing and multi tasking from a sensory point of view are still there and he has found some ingenious ways of coping.