So Jacob has a new behavior which is scaring us quite a bit! He has started to want to burrow under mattresses. It is fairly common for people with autism to crave a feeling of pressure, and often times they like activities such as being "squished" between two pillows or getting big strong hugs. Jacob has always liked these, and as a toddler often worked in therapy to get "squished" - he liked to have a big pillow squished on top of him.
Anyway, he has been trying to get under his own mattress, as well as the mattress on our bed. He also tries to get under the couch cushions. Sometimes he wants to just squeeze under the mattress and other times he wants to stand there under it with his arms up and the mattress lifted (maybe he likes the feeling of weight on his arms??).
This is dangerous, obviously. He could get caught between the frame and mattress, especially with a queen mattress like on our bed. The picture above shows what he did last week when he flipped our mattress completely off the bed. It was too heavy for me to even get back on all by myself, so I don't even know how a 4-year-old was able to get it off. The picture was taken from our bedroom door...you couldn't even get in!
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3 comments:
What a sweet boy!?!?! First, I love the picture at the top of the blog. Second, your success stories are great to read. Third, WOW! He is STRONG!!!
Miguel had a therapeutic swing we got through Abilitations catalog. it was spandex and he could lay in it, it would envelop him and he'd swing in it. We actually attached it to a stud in our family room ceiling.
We'd also smush him between bean bag chairs or let him play for long periods of time in a body sock. Both were good forms of stim for him.
They are strong arnt they!
You can get specail weighted blankets, which may help?
Thanks Kelly! I love that shot of him, too...I usually only get a glimpse of those gorgeous blue eyes! ;)
Sometimes I wish I could just get everything from Abilitations! I think I know what swing you're talking about, I saw it in the catalog and also at the autism preschool we had gone to check out one time. He used to have the abilitations "rainy day playground" trapeze up in his doorway and was quite the gymnast on that until he got too big to fit in the doorway with it. I'll have to post video sometime. ANYWAY, I'll check that swing out again. Not sure where we'd put it though, our house is so tiny and is filled to the brim these days! I think it'd be a hit with him, though!
A body sock is probably a good idea. I saw a less expesive one at Oriental Trading online, actually. Thanks for the reminder!!
And Casdok, I so enjoy your blog, it always is interesting. Mumnesia...love that! Anyway, I was wondering about the weighted blankets too. I wonder if they'd be heavy enough? Maybe I can find someone who has one and we could test it out...
Thanks for the suggestions!!
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