Deep touch pressure is the type of surface pressure that is exerted in most types of firm touching, holding, stroking, petting of animals, or swaddling. In contrast, light touch pressure is a more superficial stimulation of the skin, such as tickling, ver y light touch, or moving hairs on the skin. In animals, the tickle of a fly landing on the skin may cause a cow to kick, but the firm touch of the farmer's hands quiets her. Occupational therapists have observed that a very light touch alerts the nervous system, but deep pressure is relaxing and calming.
Deep pressure touch has been found to have beneficial effects in a variety of clinical settings (Barnard and Brazelton 1990, Gunzenhauser 1990). In anecdotal reports, deep touch pressure has been described to produce a calming effect in children with psychiatric disorders. Deep pressure stimulation, such as rolling up in a gym mat, has been used to calm children with autistic disorder and ADHD (Ayres 1979, King 1989). Lorna King (personal communication, 1990) reports that children with sleeping problems a ppear to sleep better inside of a mummy sleeping bag, which adapts to fit the body snuggly. It also has been used to reduce tactile defensiveness in children who cannot tolerate being touched. McClure and Holtz-Yotz (1991) found that deep pressure applied by foam-padded splints on the arms reduced self-injurious behavior and self-stimulation in an autistic child.
Research on autistic children indicates that they prefer proximal sensory stimulation such as touching, tasting, and smelling to distal sensory stimulation of hearing and seeing (Kootz et al. 1981). Autistic children will often seek out deep pressure sens ations. At various lecture meetings of parents of autistic individuals, parents have reported to me various types of pressure-seeking behavior of their offspring, such as wrapping arms and legs in elastic bandages, sleeping under many blankets even during warm weather, and getting under mattresses. In my case, l used to crawl under sofa cushions and have my sister sit on them. A high functioning autistic woman stated, "I need heavy blankets on me to sleep well, or else my muscles won't calm down."
Deep touch stimulation is beneficial to normal babies (Barnard and Brazelton 1990, Gunzenhauser 1990). Institutionalized babies who received supplemental tactile stimulation, mainly deep touch pressure, developed more normally (Provence and Lipton 1962). Premature babies who receive stroking and tightly bound swaddling also are reported to show definite benefits (Anderson 1986, Field et al. 1986, Lieb et al. 1980).
The strong need for deep touch stimulation is suggested in Harlow and Zimmerman's classic experiment (1959): baby monkeys would cling to and press against a soft cloth mother surrogate which provided contact comfort, over a wire surrogate that provided milk.
Takagi and Kobayasi (1955) found that deep pressure applied bilaterally to a personta body results in a decrease in pulse rate, metabolic rate, and muscle tone. This finding, however, has not been replicated.
The Parenting Autism Resource Guide: A Complete Resource Guide For Parents Who Have Children Diagnosed With Autism.
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