Temple Grandin started the movement of the weighted blankets as well as a devise she created to "hug" a person for a sense of security. She said she created it as an anxiety reliever and I've worked with severely autistic children and they do work. You can look up a number of Ms. Grandin's lectures on YouTube. They are quite good and enlightening and I would recommend them to anyone raising an Autistic/Asperger's child and even an Asperger's adult may gain some insight in to how they think from them.