Out of the Box Coaching and
Breakthroughs with the Enneagram, Mary R. Bast, Ph.D. 
Copyright © 1999. All rights reserved. Revised: January 18, 2012  

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The Squeeze Machine

"After seeing hydraulically-operated cattle chutes at feedlots and gates at dairies that were operated by air cylinders, I decided to install such a device on my squeeze machine. Then the amount of pressure to be exerted could be controlled by pushing a lever while I was inside it. After studying about air-operated industrial equipment and learning some engineering principles, I installed an air cylinder and a control valve on the squeeze machine. This refinement made the machine much more relaxing and comforting. If the pressure was slowly released and then gradually increased, the soothing feeling melted away any barriers. At first, this frightened me. I felt vulnerable. I wrote in my diary: 'Maybe it's the fear of opening a door and seeing what's on the other side. Once the door is opened and the sight seen, it can't be denied. Sometimes in the squeeze machine I feel like a wild animal afraid of being touched. At first I jerk away. But gradually I give in. This is the fourth major improvement on the squeeze machine. Each improvement melts away more of my wall of tactual defensiveness.'"

From Emergence Labeled Autistic, by Temple Grandin
and Margaret M. Scariano, pp, 126-127.