Our therapy blankets donations: This is where they arrive and how they are used therapeutically.
We wanted to know how the donations of our therapy blankets are used in the daily lives of the people living in the institutions. We would like to share some stories here.
Why do we donate our therapy blankets?
Since TherapyBlankets.de has existed, we have been donating returned weighted blankets to institutions and facilities. This not only gives them a new life but also gets the blankets to people who can particularly benefit from the effects.
Institutions often rely on donations.
For both public and private institutions, it is not always easy to make purchases, especially when there is a limited budget. Many institutions and contact points for people with various difficulties or illnesses therefore rely on donations. Health products are often more expensive – our therapy blankets, due to the handcrafted and high-quality workmanship, are not exactly cheap either. Nevertheless, we have found a way to reach the people who could really use a weighted blanket.
The work that goes into every therapy blanket does not deserve to be thrown away.
Through our trial offer, we also receive returns, for example, when the customer could not notice any effect. Of course, these blankets are not thrown away but are checked, sorted, and cleaned by us. This involves a great effort, but it is worth it to us. We want to bring therapy blankets back into circulation in perfect condition so that they can unfold their effect. Especially institutions that work with the promotion of children and adolescents can use aids like weighted blankets and integrate them meaningfully into everyday life or therapies.
Support area of the Free Waldorf School Lübeck
A therapist working in the support area and in the special education of the Waldorf school reports on the use of the donated therapy blankets. Some children are very muscularly tense, tactilely hypersensitive, or suffer from a tactile perception disorder.
„Where to put my body?“
She likes to use the therapy blanket with them during massages and relaxation exercises without announcing it. Meanwhile, some children request the heavy blanket themselves, each in their own way.
"Can we use the knight's armor again?"
"When motor development steps like in tactile perception disorder are missing, touches can feel like pain to some children. This can be gradually improved, among other things, by using a weighted blanket. The therapist likes to use the blankets for the sessions because it flips a switch in the children and they let themselves relax better."
Support center of the CAB Ulrichswerkstätten Schwabmünchen
At the Caritas Augsburg support center, people with autism, Down syndrome, complex disabilities, behavioral issues, and also pain patients find a daily structure and activities. The therapy blankets are mainly used here for relaxation and calming down during the lunch break.
"Where familiar structures, even in the daily routine of a support center, change, the use of weighted blankets is another good method to offer a feeling of security, safety, and protection – especially in the current situation."
"Especially with pain patients, it has been shown that they can relax better with the blanket. Many in the facility communicate limitedly or nonverbally. When using the weighted blanket, the educational staff can observe how the people show less anxiety and fall asleep faster."
Residential group of the v. Bodelschwingh Foundations Bethel
"In the residential group, the therapy blankets support the daily educational work with the young people living there. Especially when they miss their family environment or feel an inner sense of emptiness, the young people use the weighted blanket to feel safe and secure."
"The therapy blankets are a piece of the puzzle in our work.“
"The blankets serve as little everyday helpers, allowing for calmer sleep and further development of the young people, as we learn from the educational team of the residential group. This is also clear in the own words of a resident of the residential group:"