Thinking in Pictures: My Life With Autism

Sensory difficulties in autism include the contradiction of touch. Grandin recalls both desiring hugs and an overwhelming sensory reaction to them. She also makes a distinction between pressure and touch: “Many autistic children crave pressure stimulation even though they cannot tolerate being touched. It is much easier for a person with autism to tolerate touch if he or she initiates it” (58). This is another example of sensory processing’s role in the nervous system, which Grandin refers to throughout the book.

The idea for the squeeze machine comes to Grandin when she observes cattle in a calm state following the pressure they experience in a cattle chute. She relates to this need for pressure to reduce anxiety and increase feelings of calm: “When I was six, I would wrap myself up in blankets and get under sofa cushions, because the pressure was relaxing” (58). 

With the help of her aunt, Anne Brecheen, Grandin tries out the cattle chute and feels her anxiety subside. “This was the first time I ever felt really comfortable in my own skin” (59). The relaxing effect leads her to create her own form of a squeeze chute—the squeeze machine—that effectively deals with the physiological need for decreasing her anxiety through applied pressure.