In the Autism community, we are very well aware that Autism and sleep do NOT go together. I can probably count on one hand the number of times my son has slept through the night more than 2 nights in a row. Some nights, he can get himself back to sleep fairly quickly (within a half hour) but the majority of nights, he’s up for what I call his “Autism party”, which means he’s up and playing in his room for anywhere from 2 – 4 hours, which also means I’m awake for that time too. I’ve tried everything I could think of, including taking everything out of his room so there’s no incentive to play between 1am and 5am. My research brought me to weighted blankets, but honestly, as a single mom, the price (along with shipping costs) was too much.
A month ago, Weight on Me – Weighted Blankets held a contest on Facebook. It was so popular that initially the winner could win two weighted blankets, and quickly Jodi (the owner of Weight on Me) added a 2nd place prize of winning one weighted blanket.
Part of the contest was to have other people “Like” your comment, and “Like” Weight on Me’s Facebook page. I entered the contest, posted on my personal Facebook, moms groups, and other groups I belong to. I was completely overwhelmed by the help I received from friends, online friends and friends of my friends. Over 200 people helped us win 2nd prize – HUGE thank you to each and every one of them!
My son surprised me by choosing a Spiderman blanket (there were other fabrics I thought he would choose over the Spiderman one, but at the end of the day, he’s still a boy!), I ordered it, and within a week, we had our blanket:
Most amazing of all…my son has slept through the night EVERY NIGHT (except for one where he got up to go to the washroom so that doesn’t count…he went right back to sleep) since receiving the blanket!!
I’ve chatted with Jodi via email quite a bit since the contest and she herself has an amazing story so we’ll be sharing her story next week too. I just love that she sees every blanket as being a “hug”.
So, THANK YOU again to everyone who helped my son and I finally sleep!!
