Overview
“Deep pressure is sometimes a necessity in the same sense that oxygen and water are needed”
-Danette, mother of Johnny with ASD
Johnny seeks pressure by squeezing himself under the couch cushion before bedtime.
For Henry, like many teens with autism, anxiety increases. In an uncontrollable response, Henry self-injures himself.
A big, firm hug from Henry’s dad enables him to continue their hike up the mountain together.
Henry tantrums in distress, in attempt to block out overwhelming environmental input.
E-mail your photos that represent what anxiety symptoms and pressure-seeking behaviours look like to us at info@snugvest.com.
What is Deep Pressure Therapy
Deep Pressure Therapy is a sensory integration therapy that applies surface pressure to the body in order to create the feeling of a firm hug, hold, or swaddle.
The result of applying pressure has a relaxing and calming effect as it helps relieve anxiety by regulating the sensory system when it is over stimulated from environmental input and overload.
Deep Pressure Therapy provides proprioceptive input where the user will feel more grounded as it improves balance, body and spatial awareness, and coordination.
Firm pressure to the torso can help individuals with anxiety and hyperactivity disorders increase focus and attention. Pressure can diminish anxiety symptoms such as tantrums, self-injury, and ‘stimming’/repetitive body movement behaviors.
Tactile defensive individuals that are overly sensitive to touch can desensitize through deep pressure, decreasing hyper-responsiveness.
Therapists use various methods to provide clients with pressure such as rolling a child up in a blanket. The products links below use different ways to apply pressure; most popular among them are the use of weights in the form of weighted blankets and vests.
What are the benefits of Deep Pressure Therapy?
- Relax and ease anxiety
- Improve social skills and communicate more effectively
- Help complete daily tasks
- Reduce tantrums, self-injury behaviour, and stimming (repetitive body movement)
- Reduce tactile defensiveness / hypersensitivity to touch
- Help maintain balance and body awareness in space
- Maximize therapy sessions
How is Snug Vest different?
- Does not inhibit mobility and is not cumbersome
- Gives the user independence to self-administer pressure
- Easy to adjust pressure in small increments
- Easy to put-on and remove but not necessary to remove
- Does not place pressure on the stomach or chest
- Fashionable and discreet promoting dignity
- Can be worn almost anywhere, any time
- Gives evenly-distributed pressure to the torso
- Is adjustable to grow with child or fit multiple users
- Is easy to wash
- Avoids habituation with the ability to vary the pressure. (Habituation is when the body gets used to repeated exposure of a stimulus such as pressure).
Deep Pressure Therapy may help individuals with:
- Anxiety
- Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
- Angelman syndrome
- Apraxia
- Aspergers syndrome (AS)
- Ataxia
- Cerebral Palsy
- Down syndrome
- Depression
- Dyslexia
- Fetal Alcohol syndrome (FAS)
- Hypotonia
- Insomnia
- Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD-NOS)
- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS)
- Proprioceptive dysfunction
- Rett syndrome
- Sensory Integration Disorder (SID)
- Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD)
- Stress
- Traumatic Brain Injury
