It has two pounds worth of weights in a vinyl case velcroed into the shoulders and back to give "input" and help him to calm and focus. The vinyl case removes so that the denim vest can be washed just like your jeans in the washer.*
His therapists and I were hoping that it would help calm and focus Woodjie at some key points in his day. I was also hoping that it would decrease his pinching and twisting the skin on his legs, arms, ears and face. I see a decrease in BRUISING, but not in frequency of twisting. Which is good enough, I'm thinking!
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Is it worth the $153.00 after shipping? Well, if I had bought this vest with my own money, I probably would have returned it and asked for another one. See how the last snap has popped off? That happened on the fourth wearing, and he is only allowed to wear the vest for 20 minute increments. It has never been washed. I'm afraid to wash it, lest it get destroyed and there I am with a $153.00 bill. I'm sure I'll have to do it at some point, though. Since he can only wear it for a little bit at a time, and we haven't used it outside or at the supper table, it should be a while before I have to try doing that.
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You have to admit that it looks much, much, MUCH cooler than the usual dorky-looking Dapper Dan specials that pass for special needs-wear. Note to manufacturers: my child is autistic, and he's going to be "different" enough without calling attention to it as though he were from some alternate fashion planet where clowns are cool.
Chaz gets bruises all the time and I don't know how. Well, guess what? A detective from the police department called me about the incident a few months ago at school when they found a bruise on Chaz. CPS had to come investigate and everything. They tried to get my kids (at the school) to pull their pants down and everything. Of course they didn't find anything on the other kids. Chaz just had a couple of bad bruises like he always seems to get. They even asked him and he said he doesn't know how he got them. So the detective called and questioned Charles and I for over an hour. In the end he closed the case, looked at my family blog, and said we had a beautiful family. But FIRST we were being questioned as if we abused our kids. It really scared me. I said, "come on, he's Aspergers". The doctor told me bruises were normal for Chaz. He gets some pretty crazy moments.
ReplyDeleteThat is SO SUPER SCARY!!!
ReplyDeleteWe are the manufacturer of the OTvest. I just came upon this site today as I review what is currently shown on a google search about the OTvest. I am sorry that you did not buy the OTvest from us directly, as we do not charge $153.00 for even our largest size. If a snap came off, we would replace the vest within a few days. We have improved our product so that the weight insert is almost indestructible--being made of nylon like luggage and carpenter's belts--and can still be wiped down to clean. The most important part of the OTvest, beside it's stylish design and durability, is where the weights ARE PLACED--which makes it very effective because the weights lie directly ON the body--not hanging in pockets inside the vest supported by the garment--like other weighted vests.
ReplyDeletePlease visit our web site at www.otvest.com
Nancy VandenBerg, MS, OTR
OTvest, LLC
www.otvest.com
I think I will need to do a follow-up post because aside from the (admittedly marked up) price and the snap busting, we've been very happy with this vest! And we now have one in a larger size we've been very happy with. Thank you for commenting and reminding me that I need to update a bit on this product!
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