Crash Pad Time!

As I've been posting, we're trying to find some funding to get Tristan some indoor sensory tools and therapy equipment. This stuff is unbelievably expensive, I wonder how they expect parents of SPD and ASD kids who are sensory seekers/avoiders to actually help them when not at therapy. Because let's face it, 2-3 hours a week is simply NOT enough.

So I started doing some of my own research to see if there was anything we could do on our own, either permanently or just in the interim. What I really wanted for Woodchuck was a crash pad. These are used in therapy to help "get the ya-ya's out", help SPD kids learn body mechanics, be comfortable with their own body, feel confident in their body, etc. Tristan gets scared by swinging motions and heights. One way to help him is to sway him and then "crash" him onto the crash pad. These are usually 4x4 ft (sometimes larger) pillows filled with dense foam. The pillows are anywhere from $150-$300 EACH. The foam to make them is equally expensive.

So...I got creative and called around to local furniture places, finally finding a wonderful place in Sellwood called Trio Furniture. The woman who owns the business has a son who is mildly autistic, so when I told her what I was looking for and why I needed it she didn't hesitate to donate to me an entire SUV full of large foam pieces for me to make Tristan's crash pad. There is easily $500 worth of foam pieces here. Easily.

So people are truly angels among us. I still get a little choked up when I think about people's generosity.

The crash pad is now halfway done. The boy got to play and jump on what I've done already tonight. I just took a huge half bolt of fleece yardage, made two 4 ft x 6 ft pieces, serged them together and turned it right side out. Once it's all done I'll just stitch it closed on my regular sewing machine.

The process of shredding the foam by hand has been rather tedious, I won't lie about that. To fill it half way took about four hours worth of ripping the pieces by hand (forget about scissors, they cut foam with a saw for a reason).

Here are some pics below of the process  and what the crash pad currently looks like:

Foam block being ripped

Run and CRASH!

The calm lasted for a few seconds

Before that gave way to rolling around. I think he likes it!