Autistic children and adults are direly in need of pressures in various ways to relieve themselves and calm and cope with sensory over load. Hugs and squeezes from other people, very often, are distressful to autistic persons as they are unable to communicate their needs by indicating a certain amount of pressure. For both the autistic person and the one hugs or squeezes him it is frustrating and ineffective.
This frustration is relieved by the hug machine to enable the autistic individual control the situation as both the children and adults crave for pressure to calm down their anxiety. It is in this context that a woman with autism developed the hug machine or hug box or squeeze machine. It has two padded side boards connected near the bottom of the boards to form a V shape. The side boards are pushed by a lever to form pressure. The lever also permits the autistic children to control the amount and length of pressure.
People are examining why autistic persons respond to pressure and how it produces a calming effect. The hug machine may affect the greatly increased sensory functioning of the autistic person with disruptive or distressing behavior. The pressure applied may transfer the focus of the autistic person to a single feeling – that of pressure thereby producing a calming effect. Anxiety, for many autistic persons is crippling and frustrating and so proper social behavior becomes more difficult. The only means of releasing such anxiety is through pressure. The hug machine is in good use for several programs, researches and studies.
Squeezing and hugging an autistic child, instead of helping, can cause anxiety and increase their senses. You can, in the place of hug machine, crate a similar object. Wrap the autistic child or adult in a blanket where they can control how much pressure to apply.
Buy padded boards simulating the hugging machines side boards and tie or tape some heavy duty yarn to each side. This will allow the child to control over how much pressure to apply and for how long. Enquire if the child’s school is interested in purchasing the community hugging machine. Though this cannot be the panacea for all the child’s problems, it allows the individual to cope with the world and society.