How to Make a Travel Sized Weighted Blanket for Children with Autism or Aspergers
July 06, 2009 | By
It's not uncommon for children (or adults) dealing with autism, Asperger's Syndrome, Sensory Intergration Disorder, or sleep difficulties to find relief with a weighted blanket. For some, just the added pressure on or around the body has a calming effect, essentially giving the body an anchor in space. For children, they can be helpful at bedtime, naptime, or just to have around anytime they need to comfort themselves, a challenging process for any child, but especially so for an autistic or Asperger's child.
Bailey’s weighted blanket was quite a life saver during our 14 hour drive to the Outer Banks. It’s not easy for any child to sit through a long drive; it’s even more difficult for a child with Aspergers.
Bailey’s 9 pound Lightening McQueen weighted blanket is filled with flat marbles which is evenly distributed in long rows throughout the four divided sections of the blanket. We first realized he needed a weighted blanket after discussing his behavior with an Occupational Therapist. As parents, we were terrified when Bailey, at two years old, would slam his little body into the cement and brick walls. We discovered he did this to reactivate his nervous system with the pressure of the impact. After he started sleeping and napping with his weighted blanket, his harmful behavior stopped. After which, he would often ask for his weighted blanket at other times as well.
Since Bailey’s body needs physical pressure and he can’t carry around a nine pound blanket to school and in the car without a little bit of difficulty, I also made him a travel sized blanket. For those of you who may have children struggling with sensory issues because of Autism and/or Aspergers, you may want to try this blanket.
What you will need:
A pillow case
2 bags of 2 lb. decorative marbles
Sewing machine
Funnel or bowl with lip
1. If necessary, iron the pillow case.
2. Using the sewing machine, sew straight lines down the pillow case from top to bottom, leaving long pockets for the marbles to slide in.
3. Take one bag of marbles and divide the marbles into the same number of piles as there are pockets to fill in the pillow case. Don’t worry if it isn’t perfectly even piles; it’s not an exact science.
4. Fill each pocket of the pillow case. Don’t worry if it doesn’t fill up, it shouldn’t because you want the weight to shift around.
5. Using the sewing machine again, sew a line down the middle of the pillow case.
6. Repeat steps 3 & 4.
7. Sew the pillow case shut, folding the fabric over if necessary.
Feel free to alter this project to meet your specific needs, but if you use different weights, make sure that the blanket is hand washable. Don’t use materials that will absorb the water which could result in mold.
Besides the weighted blanket, our Occupational Therapist worked with us on numerous forms of therapy from the Wilbarger protocol and joint compressions to experimenting with textures in cooking and crafting but the weighted blanket has been the most successful and lasting coping tool when dealing with Bailey’s Aspergers.
Top photo is Piece of Me by Katie M. Berggren at Etsy.
Robin Hartman, part-time professor of English and full-time mommy, runs her own Etsy shop @ helenapuck.etsy.com.
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