CASES

18-year-old boy with Cerabral Palsy

We have a young man with Cerebral Palsy here at the group home. He has an intellectual disability and is estimated to have a cognitive functional level of 3 - 6 months old. He is a wheelchair user and is passively transported around in his wheelchair. He has bouts of self-harming behavior and periods with many spasms. He very easily becomes insecure and reacts with self-harming behavior and loud noises. He has undergone a sensory integration evaluation that concluded that he craves stimulation of all the proximal senses, but primarily the proprioceptive and vestibular senses. During therapy, insecurity and self-harming behavior can be alleviated by giving him plenty of proprioceptive stimuli. I do this by passively facilitating movement in the typical tone-reducing patterns, e.g., calm rhythmic movements in hip flexion and rotation over the spine. In addition, I give deep touch pressure on the extremities and vibrations on the chest. With my hands I can keep him relaxed and comfortable in therapy. I would really like him to be able to take this relaxed state home with him. The Protac SenSit^® ball chair and the Protac Ball blanket^® Combi have made this wish come true! He has been granted funding for the blanket because it gives him peace at night and makes him more rested when he wakes up. Previously, he would make quite a ruckus at night – rocking from side to side and shouting. A behavior we (staff) have interpreted as inner turmoil and vestibular and proprioceptive self-stimulation (like "blind-rocking") The Protac SenSit^® chair he bought himself, and it gives him enough peace to be able to stay in common rooms with his fellow residents without becoming restless and self-harming as he used to be the case. He also uses it to ”wind down” after training.

Adult woman with anxiety

After a severe anxiety attack, I became very restless and was afraid of falling. The ball chair’s "cave- like” feeling made the restlessness in my body gradually disappear. The chair also provided a comfortable warmth. After 10-15 minutes the anxiety attack was diminished and after half an hour in the chair, I was able to function in the group again. The wings of the Protac SenSit^® ball chair feel as if they are holding me. I think it's great!

6-year-old boy with tendancy to be self destructive

During a 3-month period, the boy has sat approx. 20 min in the Protac SenSit^® ball chair every day after breakfast and during the morning gathering. The chair is also used spontaneously. He has increased his concentration during the morning gathering, can now keep up with is happening and is not as disturbing to the other children as he was before. He calms down more. It is evident that he calms down when he sits down in the chair. The mornings when he feels bad, the chair helps him “move on”, “get over it” and have a better day.

18-year-boy with Cerebral Palsy

We have a young man with Cerebral Palsy here at the group home. He has an intellectual disability and is estimated to have a cognitive functional level of 3 - 6 months old. He is a wheelchair user and is passively transported around in his wheelchair. He has bouts of self-harming behavior and periods with many spasms. He very easily becomes insecure and reacts with self-harming behavior and loud noises. He has undergone a sensory integration evaluation that concluded that he craves stimulation of all the proximal senses, but primarily the proprioceptive and vestibular senses. During therapy, insecurity and self-harming behavior can be alleviated by giving him plenty of proprioceptive stimuli. I do this by passively facilitating movement in the typical tone-reducing patterns, e.g., calm rhythmic movements in hip flexion and rotation over the spine. In addition, I give deep touch pressure on the extremities and vibrations on the chest. With my hands I can keep him relaxed and comfortable in therapy. I would really like him to be able to take this relaxed state home with him. The Protac SenSit^® ball chair and the Protac Ball Blanket^® Combi have made this wish come true! He has been granted funding for the blanket because it gives him peace at night and makes him more rested when he wakes up. Previously, he would make quite a ruckus at night – rocking from side to side and shouting. A behavior we (staff) have interpreted as inner turmoil and vestibular and proprioceptive self-stimulation (like "blind-rocking") The Protac SenSit^® chair he bought himself, and it gives him enough peace to be able to stay in common rooms with his fellow residents without becoming restless and self-harming as he used to be the case. He also uses it to help him” wind down” after training.

Woman with a bipolar diagnose

A therapist on the ward says: "The woman uses the  ball chair on her own initiative several times a day; especially when she needs to be calmed and get her thoughts gathered. She describes that it helps her to find peace during the day without having to go to bed. She finds that the combination of using the Protac Ball Blanket^® at night and the Protac SenSit^® ball chair during the day is completely optimal for her. In the ward, it is experienced that the ball chair can help prevent and limit her tendency to become agitated and angry during the day. She is observed, among other things, to use it before and after she goes to meetings or conversations. In previous hospitalizations she has been mechanically restrained with a fixation belt, but this has not been necessary during this hospitalization".

Man with a psychiatric diagnose

A man with mental illness, lives in a psychiatric care facility with other residents. He has his own room where he prefers to be almost all the time. He stays a maximum of ½ hour at a time in common areas and is considered restless. The man loves the Protac SenSit^® ball chair and stays in it longer than he has wanted to sit in other furniture. The staff experience that he has less motor restlessness. He wanders around less of the time and with less intensity. He can sit in the common room for longer time periods than before. The chair allows him to retire to a safe spot and get sensory stimulation without falling asleep. This means that he can remain closer to ongoing activities and that he is more alert and ready for activity than if he had received sensory stimulation while lying down.

20-year-old woman with a psychiatric diagnose

The woman has several suicide attempts behind her and is admitted to a psychiatric ward. Is severely self-harming. She was supported by the staff to use the Protac SenSit^® ball chair but eventually it became the patient's own strategy to use the chair. She experienced calmness in her body and mind and that she became better able to resist the urge to do self-harming behavior. The chair was placed in her room so that she could seek it out herself and experience well-being and calm her mind and body.

Woman with mental unrest at psychiatric unit

When she uses the Protac SenSit^® ball chair , she is better able to be present in the common room of the ward because she becomes calmer physically and mentally. Staff has experienced, immediately after she has been assisted with sitting down in the chair, that she is calmer and more collected. She can participate in the activities that take place around her. She cannot get up from the chair on her own and needs a little help from a staff.

6-year-boy with motor unrest

After trying the Protac SenSit^® ball chair  a few times in occupational therapy treatment sessions, the boy says: "You have to tell my mother where to buy such a chair". The boy enjoys being hidden under the neck pillows; the side pieces are draped over him and he also wants to have a ball blanket over him in the meantime. When the parents see the pleasure that the chair brings, they try to create seating that is similar. The mother says, "we must own that chair”. Nothing else gives so much peace to our son."

4-year-old girl with mental and motor unrest

The severe motor and emotional unrest that characterizes the girl's daily life decreases a lot once she has been sitting in the Protac SenSit^® ball chair. She seeks it out spontaneously in the therapy room, as one of the first things she does. After 4-6 minutes, where she sits completely covered by the wings of the chair and silent, she begins to communicate. Her speech is clearly more cohesive and organized. The sensorimotor activities that ensue are performed much more calmly than before she was introduced to the chair. Tasks are often performed that require eye-hand coordination while sitting in the chair, which promotes the quality of her performance.

Children in sensory room

The occupational therapist tells us about the children's comments: "I love that ball chair - I want one like it at home"; "It is wonderful"; "I’ll take it home without you seeing it"; "I want one for Christmas". Most of the children in the sensory room share their enjoyment of using the chair’s wings to wrap up in.

13-year-old boy with ADHD

It is obvious that all forms of contact and communication as well as bodily calmness increase both while and after the boy sits in the Protac SenSit^® chair . He seeks out the chair spontaneously and often tries to “pretend sleep” to be allowed to stay in the chair a bit longer. He is clearly calmer and happier and easier to work with when he has been sitting in the chair. He often expresses with a twinkle in his eye: “one day I will snatch the chair and take it home without you noticing".

Children btw. 8-17-years-old with autism

The center has had two Protac SenSit^® chairs  for one year. One chair is placed in a study-room where it is used by the center’s exam-preparation class when the pupils need to read and concentrate. Pupils who use the chair are pleased with its effect. It gives them peace of mind and significantly improves their concentration when it comes to learning new subject matter. The second chair is moved around as needed. It has been placed in the activity-café area, but the staff has requested that it be moved as the young people gravitate to the chair and become so relaxed that they fall asleep and do not participate in the activities that are occurring. At present it is used in a quiet room where one can withdraw when in need of peace.

6-year-old boy with motor unrest

After trying the Protac SenSit^® ball chair a few times in occupational therapy treatment sessions, the boy says: "You have to tell my mother where to buy such a chair". The boy enjoys being hidden under the neck pillows; the side pieces are draped over him and he also wants to have a ball quilt over him in the meantime. When the parents see the pleasure that the chair brings, they try to create seating that is similar. The mother says, "we must own that chair”. Nothing else gives so much peace to our son."