The squeeze machine?

       Also called the "hug" machine, Dr. Temple Grandin (who is herself, Autistic) brought this technique to people's attention as a therapy for Autistic people. This is not the same as what that teacher in Kentucky did. This machine looks odd in pictures and I don;t think it would be my cup of tea but many Autistic children are calmed by this. Here's the catch, therapies like this are things that the Autistic child can turn to on their own terms. Sensory therapies like this are not things that you force a person into in the context of a punishment or "intervention". This is the description straight from Dr. Grandin's site: http://www.grandin.com/inc/squeeze.html and for a more easy to read description this is the Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hug_machine