For those that are curious...may i suggest "House Rules" by Jodi Picoult"... she's a wonderful writer... has taken many subjects,, some contraversal.. and written some fabulous novels... stories really hold ones interest while giving "perspective" from all angles... at the same time really teaching us about it!!

Just found out my grandson has autism. They suggested a weighted blanket for him. I am going to try and make him one. That's for the tips.

Very, very interesting. Yes, Please post a picture of the blanket. I have always needed some type of cover to sleep. But love a cold room with lots of blankets, heavy blankets. Now I have an idea why I'm getting a little frustrated with the lighter weight batting available. I'll have to think about this!!

I just finished listening to the book "Unlocked" by Karen Kingsbury also covers the subject of autism. It gives a person hope.

I have made a couple for kids in my class. Yes they are kinda a pain to wrestle with to sew. I have made a bunch of lap sized ones for ADD kids at school too. They work great. Merry Christmas everyone.

You are a very NICE grand to do this.

I made a few for friends using polar fleece and plastic pellets. Each blanket was 5 founds. The blanket was sewed into 25 grids.. Each one holding an equal amount of beads. I found that towards the end of finishing the blanket, it was helpful to have a second person to help hold and guide the blanket as the sheer weight of it made it slow going through the needle. After figuring out how to make the first one, the others took no time at all. These are much appreciated gifts that are very expensive if bought on line.

Thank you for the wonderful idea and pattern. I have friends with autistic grandchildren and will be using this idea and sharing with others who will be thrilled to have the pattern. Thank you again.

The basic rule is 10% of body weight + 1 pound. Have fun!

Thank you everyone for your comments. I will post a picture if my DIL has time to take a picture and post it to me. You can imagine how busy she is with TWO autistic sons, ages 11 and 13. The older boy that now has the weighted blanket, is more affected: non-verbal and pretty frustrated a lot of the time. However, he's very sweet when he's not bouncing around. He's in a private school, finally, due to a shocking incident at his public school - paid for by the school system. In very short order, he finally learned to say his phone number - something we've wished for for a long time. The younger boy is almost too verbal! He's mainstreamed, but has repeated a couple of grades. He'll graduate from regular high school eventually, and we've been told he'll probably be eligible for George Mason Univ's program for autistic adults. When we heard that, we were over the moon. His biggest interest is Little Theater.He's a real ham.

Sounds great. I would also like to see it. Hope all goes well.