Cozy Calm Weighted Blankets
I ran into these blankets over a year ago at a local Home and Garden show and was in love. Ages ago we were given a weighted blanket of the scratchy, plasticy variety and J-man hated it. He hated the weighted vest too. Anyhow, when I saw these blankets at the show, I thought that it looked perfect. They came in a few different fabrics at the time, so I purchased a fleece child's small blanket. The weighted material inside is made up of small plastic beads, which I did worry might come out or melt with washing and drying. They did neither. In fact, the blanket is washer and dryer safe and holds up wonderfully. The blankets come in several different sizes and weights, depending on one's needs.
J-man still didn't like it. I figured weighted blankets weren't for my boy...UNTIL the last few months.
Over the last few months J-man has had a major case of the bedwiggles. He fights bedtime more than he ever has before, and tosses and turns with just a little too much energy. Since I lay with him as he falls asleep, I noticed the change right away. So I dug out the Cozy Calm blanket and tried it out. It settled him right down... enough to let him relax and fall asleep. Now it is a standard part of bedtime, and WE love it. I am now saving my pennies to buy my own and a bigger one for him. It is awesomesauce!
The Autism Shop
This is both a brick and mortar store (located in the Twin Cities) and an online store, and I must say: if you can't find it here, I am not sure it exists. We dropped into the shop for the first time last spring while they packing up to move locations, I was impressed with the breadth and depth of the products they had there. I was a little like I kid in a candy store. So anyway, if you are local, check it out. If not, check out the online store.
ASD and Me by Teresa DeMars
Full disclosure time: I won this book as a door prize. But it is a great book to introduce the idea of autism spectrum disorders to other children, as well as an affirmation for children on the spectrum. It is a little over where J-man is right now, but I think it will be a great resource for the future.
Faces of Autism: Stories of Hope 2012 calendar
Ok, shameless plug. The Faces of Autism: Stories of Hope 2012 calendar is a charity calendar put out by a local organization called United for Autism. And J-man is Mr April!!! I mean, reallllly... who knew my little man would be a calendar model!? The whole project was volunteer driven, with some amazing photos taken by Tera Windfeldt Photography, and all proceeds go directly to United for Autism. So, if you have any interest in an awesome calendar for an awesome cause, with an AMAZING Mr April, consider ordering one of these calendars!!
So there you have it... products I wanted to turn you on to. Let me know if you have a product or book that you are loving right now! I always like to find new stuff!!
3 comments:
Thanks for the recommendations! And how did you get J-man in the calendar?
Well, the short version of a long story is: J-man goes to the same therapy center that the photographer's child did. She put out a call looking for kids for the calendar and I volunteered J-man. Nothing more formal than that. To be honest, I wasn't sure he would even sit for the pictures ... but Tera was AWESOME and got some amazing shots. Indeed all of the kids looked amazing... and to get those shots from our ASD kiddos... TALENT!
Weighted Blankets are wonderful, my son's came from DreamCatcher Weighted Blankets about 6 years ago and he sleeps with it every night. Your readers can visit them at www.weightedblanket.net. They also give one away each month which is also GREAT!!
Post a Comment