Sensory Issues in Aspergers

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Ds1 (nearly 7) had an OT appointment yesterday. School suggested they might be able to help with sensory issues, like complete refusal to take his fleece off all day, and hatred of accidental touch by other children, and his difficulty writing.
The OT has given me a great long questionnaire to fill in, and will visit him in school, then provide a report for them. She's also put his name down for a 'social skills' group, but who knows when that may happen, because the current venue's roof has fallen in.
Other ideas she came up with were:

1. a fuzzy thing attached to a hair elastic which goes round his wrist - he has to sort of pull it and grip it with his 3rd and 4th fingers while writing, and it's supposed to help him hold his pencil in a more relaxed way.
2. making a sort of snuggle sac out of heavy drapy stretchy material so he can wrap himself up in it. She had one there and he loved it.
3. giving him a heavy rucksack with something like a telephone book in it to wear when he's doing his homework. Some of these ideas sound SO batty, I haven't even dared tell dh yet. Anyone have any thoughts/experience of this sort of thing?

We too have had similar advice for our son, I have a list of about 30 different exercises to do with him 20 mins a day. Unfortunately I cannot give you any of our experiences as I haven't got round to doing many of them yet .
On the writing front I came across this by accident in WHSmiths the other day, and DS thought it felt much better to grip, although I found it very uncomfortable . I think at the moment it is just biros, but the lady seemed to think that they were bringing out a pencil too (although I can't see how you would sharpen it)!!

We filled in an OT questionnaire for ds1. 6 months later and after lots of phone calls from the Early Years Inclusion service, we're still waiting for the results.

In the meantime we've been given some similar ideas by our area SENCO. Putting a heavy9ish0 object in ds1's rucksack is supposed to help him to stop walking on his tiptoes quite so much. He can't hold a pencil properly yet so we've been given some grips to put on his pencils. One is like a long green triangular shape and the other is a red cube with indentations where the fingers are supposed to go. We're not having much luck with the pencil grips but I think at least part of it is that he has held a pencil in his usual way for so long that it's become a habit.

heavy9ish0?? I mean heavy(ish)!

coppertop, have you been drinking again?

Regarding the writing difficulty, I don't know if it is of any use, but there is a thing designed for disabled people or people with arthritis who cannot grip a pen. It looks just like a ball(about 2" in diameter, I think) with a hole through the centre for the pen to go through and it makes it easier to grip. You can apparently get it from specialist pharmacies but saw it in a promotions catalogue last year.

The benefit is that you could make it into something so it wasn't so boring - a globe or something or maybe your ds could decorate it himself? I feel lucky that the only sensory dislike my ds has is metal against his skin, which means I have to stick Hypal over all buttons and studs on jeans and jumpers or he will not wear them. I wish you luck with the new "batty" ideas and hope they work.

The sensory stuff really works. Ds1 now asks for squeezes for comfort. Brushing his skin has allowed him to wear hats and belts which he couldn't tolerate at all before. he still can't hold a pencil. Exercises have really helped his depth perception as well- he finds climbing ladders etc at the park much easier.

I really rate the stuff- and its so easy to do- even with ds1 whose usually a nightmare to do anything with.

Thanks everyone - I'm now inspired! Off to WHSmith to buy a funky pen (whacky website isn't it?) tomorrow, and the material shop to choose something to make him a little cocoon out of..