Ergo Weighted Sash - Review

Ergo Weighted Sash

*This post contains sponsored content*

Welcome to the world of Autistic Spectrum Disorders.  The three main types of ASD are Asperger's Syndrome, Pervasive Developmental Disorder- Not Otherwise Specified and Autistic Disorder.  Our Ainsley falls into the PDD-NOS group but she has a lot of the Asperger's traits.  She is my special like munchkin. 

So, what do you know about the Autism Spectrum?  Let's chat about PDD-NOS and Asperger's for a minute.

Here are some of the ASD characteristics that Ainsley has:

abnormal eye contact
difficulty understanding and expressing her own emotions
seeking touch and affection on own terms, but shunning affection when offered by others (not on own terms)
absence of symbolic play behavior, very literal and concrete in comprehension (e.g., would not use a block as a telephone)
frequent or sustained crying without visible cause
difficulty developing verbal communication
pulling adults to items of interest rather than pointing or gesturing
lack of use of gestures, demonstration, mime to compensate for lack of verbal expression
answering question by parroting question back to you
difficulty with abstract concepts (learns nouns better than verbs or adjectives)
difficulty with changes or transitions
over sensitivity to sensory stimuli (sounds)
develops routines that are difficult to break
not interested in  wide variety of toys and materials
peculiar insistence in selected items (certain blanket, cup)
undersensitive to pain
self injurious behavior that does not appear to be directed at achieving any result (head banging)
peculiar fascination with one specific medium (Jurassic Park)

Strengths:
Loves to rock, hug and kiss
Can work any Apple product and all apps on them

PDD-NOS isn't the end of the world.  We just do things a little differently than others.  We have learned what things Ainsley doesn't process well and we are able to avoid them for the most part.  Sometimes that is just not possible.  For the times that those situations can not be avoided the Ergo Weighted Sash is a wonderful tool to have on hand. 

Weighted sashes are beneficial to children with Autism, ADHD, sensory integration disorders and even neurological disorders. The combination of effects generated by the sash helps to sooth and calm the child therefore allowing the child to calm down.  There have also been reports of children with ADHD being able to focus better during class while wearing weighted sashes. 

We have been using the sash with Ainsley for the past few weeks.  It took almost 2 weeks to get her to wear the vest at all.  She does not like change and any type of change is going to be slow.  After a couple of weeks she started to wear the sash for a couple of minutes at a time.  It has increased slightly every day since.  She will now wear it for about 5 minutes at a time.  We are using 1 pound of weight in the sash.  We put it on her when she begins to get upset and she removes it when she has calmed down.  I can see a decrease in the amount of time that her meltdowns last.  When she is finished she says "all done" and brings me the sash.  She hasn't fully adjusted to it but she is certainly doing better with it.

It's hard for any parent to see their child struggle.  We would do anything to make their lives just a little easier.  I honestly believe that the Ergo Weighted Sash is doing just that for Ainsley.  It's a slow process, but I have learned that nothing great happens overnight.

If you are interested in learning more about the Ergo Weighted Sash or purchasing one you may visit their website by clicking here.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.  The opinions expressed are those of solely the author and do not represent the opinions of the sponsored company or any company that may host or display this blog.  Even though the author receives compensation for sponsored posts we always give honest opinions and experiences related to these products.  You may view our full disclosure by clicking here.