Yes, this post is about bean bag chairs. But bear with me for a bit, first.
Our son has high-functioning autism. My wife, Natania, has written about our journey extensively over at GeekMom. One of his big issues is with sensory integration. Basically, there’s a neurological dysfunction within his brain that causes him to have issues processing stimulation. When he’s stressed out, he’ll push himself into a corner, stroke his face, or grab the arms of a nearby parent and envelope himself with us. He loves massages and getting his head rubbed more than anyone I know.
When we got our first massive bean bag from Sumo, he fell in love almost immediately. He’d run into it, headlong, and just let it surround him. He fell asleep in it, wrapped in blankets and snoring softly. He joked about replacing his bed with it.
So when we got the chance to check out the new Sumo Omni Plus, we decided it was time to put one in his room. One minor problem, though: there wasn’t enough space. And as funny as it was for him to joke, we weren’t getting rid of his bed in favor of a bean bag. So we had to wait until we moved to our new house earlier this month to unpack it.
In case you’ve never gotten one of these massive bean bags through the mail, they come in deceptively (and, if you’re an eight-year-old boy, disappointingly) small boxes. But as soon as you open the box, the thing expands like a life raft. When we finally got his new bedroom painted and set up, we positioned the Omni Plus in a special nook and let it expand out to its full 6 feet by 5 feet dimensions. It fit just right, and gives our son a perfect place to cuddle up with a book or iPad in the privacy of his own room.
It has a thick suede cover that unzips off the chair and can be thrown into a washing machine, and, while it’s a big chair, it’s relatively lightweight (around 40 pounds).
Now, I’m not saying that the Omni Plus is perfect for all kids with sensory issues. This particular model isn’t quite as big and all-enveloping as the big red Gigantor in our living room or the Emperor that GeekMom Ruth Suehle has, for instance. And some folks might balk at the $199 price tag, which is, in all honesty, totally reasonable when compared to other big, high-quality chairs from other places. All I can say is that we enjoy our Sumos in this household, and with a one-week return policy (you pay %15 restocking and shipping), the Omni Plus is a pretty fair bet.
I received a Sumo Omni Plus bean bag for this review.
