Weighted Blanket

The elevator doors open and we step out onto clean and shiny but still dated and worn linoleum floors. The walls are an off white, the tall ceilings offer a welcome space in an otherwise narrow hallway. We follow him down the corridor, turning corners through a maze he has become familiar with.

He leads us to a door with 4 names on. The bottom right name is our’s: Alexander. His sophomore dorm room on the 7th floor. We enter the suite, the bathroom on the right followed by the full kitchen. It’s still clean after two months of some, but not a lot of, cooking. We know most of the kids have the meal plan and eat in the dining hall. On the left, 2 rooms, with 2 beds in each. His shared bedroom isn’t big enough for the 4 of us to be in at once, so I’m the second person standing in the room with him. Movie and theater show posters line the wall, the bed, elevated to hide a 4 drawer dresser, is unmade and messy. On it, in the mess of blankets is a familiar fabric: dark red dragons with dark green bamboo against a black background. A handmade blanket. A handmade weighted blanket. A weighted blanket I paid dearly for over 15 years ago, after being diagnosed with sensory issues, grasping at any therapies that might help him feel better and that would be acceptable to his mother.

Over 15 years later, he still finds comfort in a weighted blanket.

I remember searching for this kind of therapy, well before the internet was in full swing. I probably found the woman who made these blankets on AOL, which at the time was The Internet. I think she was in Colorado and I recently looked her up again and of course, she no longer makes them. A local to me woman makes them because a lot of crafters do now and because weighted blankets have been found to be good therapies for kids with sensory issues. I’m proud of myself for having researched this so long ago but I’m especially happy that the kid brought it, along with his support animal cat, to college with him. I hope it has brought him comfort all these years and it would appear that it has.