Picture Schedule

Well, it's been quite a while since I've posted - I got engaged and have been planning a wedding, so things have been pretty hectic!  Today's post will be a short post, but I promise I'll be trying to post more!

I've started working with a private client - a family with a five year old boy with autism named Daniel.  He is pretty high functioning so the parents are having a hard time getting services through DDD (Arizona's Department of Disability services).  I have been working with them for half an hour a week - half an hour is the most Daniel can focus, and getting him for that long is even a struggle!

I made a very simple picture "schedule" to use with Daniel.  Kids with autism often have a very hard time dealing with transitions and knowing what is coming next.  I don't know Daniel that well so don't know if he really needs a schedule like this, but it couldn't hurt!

Here is the front:

I kept it pretty simple.  Normally for something like this I would use "first" and "then", but since Daniel has a pretty small verbal vocabulary and English isn't his first language, I decided to just use 1 and 2.  The activity he is expected to do goes under "1" and then his choice/reward for completing the activity goes under "2."  He has several activities to choose from, as what may be reinforcing for him one day may not be another day.

Here's the back:

The choices for 1 are on the top and the choices/reinforcers for 2 are on the bottom.  I used Boardmaker software to get all the symbols, then laminated everything and used velcro to keep everything together.

(Sorry for the low quality pictures, apparently Droid isn't known for their camera quality)

It's been difficult to get actual "yoga" started, as I'm a new person to Daniel and presenting a new activity.  Hopefully laying this ground work down now will enable us to have many more productive sessions later.

I'm hoping that not only will our sessions help calm and focus Daniel and give him some bonding time with mom, but that the different poses and stories we work through will increase his vocabulary as well.

Pose of the Week - Savasana

Savasana, also called Corpse pose, is the last pose in a yoga class, and often considered the most important.  It is intended as a meditative pose, giving time to relax and completely let go.  It is very difficult for kids to settle in to savasana.  A typical savasana in an adult class can last from 5-10 minutes.  Kids have a much shorter attention span and often get the wiggles, so I often play games to work them into savasana and get them to stay a little longer, working on breathing and relaxing.  I will talk about these in another post - today is just the basics.

To get in to savasana, come down to your back, legs about mat length apart, arms spread a little wider than the body, palms facing up.  Close your eyes and focus on breathing.  When a thought comes into your head, acknowledge it, and then let it go.  The goal here is to quiet the mind and relax, and this is very difficult!

I also like to include a nice massage with savasana, which I will demonstrate in a later post.  This aides in relaxation.  We take this a little further in my autism group.  A lot of people with autism have an under-stimulated nervous system and are constantly seeking sensory input.  Some people with this symptom respond well to deep pressure and joint compression.  Throughout our classes, Kobi has decided he enjoys his savasana more on his belly.  To facilitate bonding between him and his mom, rather than me give the massage and pressure, his mom would provide it for him at the end of class.  He really seemed to enjoy this time.  Here are some pictures of his mom giving him deep pressure massage in savasana.

 

Pose of the Week

Our pose of the week, Navasana or Boat Pose, is one that is great for building core stability and strength.  It can be very difficult for children (and adults) with low muscle tone to get into this pose.  We start by grounding our bottoms down and sitting up nice and tall with bent knees, the bottoms of our feet on the mat.  Then, we put our hands on our knees or shins and rock back so our feet are off the mat.
At this point, you can extend your legs into "tabletop" - knees bent, calves parallel to the ground, feet together.  You can release your hands and reach them toward your feet.  Here's us getting started with the pose:

If you would like a further challenge, the full pose is extending the legs out straight, keeping your core muscles engaged and legs and feet together.  Your body should form a V-shape.  Here I'm helping Mercedes keep her upper body off the mat - it's quite tempting to just lay down and lift your legs up, but that's not really working the core muscles. ;)

Here's Mercedes's succesful Boat Pose - with kids, they may not do the full pose with correct alignment, but that's ok, as long as they are having fun and are being safe.

And, if you need a little extra support, you can do like Mercedes does and find some furniture to prop your head up. ;)

Pose of the Week

Thanks to my fabulous model Mercedes, I will be attempting to post a Pose of the Week on a (hopefully) weekly basis!  This week's pose is a very simple cross-legged comfortable seated position.  In my kids yoga classes, when it's time to listen, we all come to a comfortable sitting position.  In school, I call it "criss cross applesauce."  This pose is a grounding pose and helps the children focus.  We also sit in this position when we do breathing exercises.

To get into this simple pose, we ground our bottoms to the mat and bend our knees, crossing one leg on top of the other.  It's important to practice good posture, as a lot of the students I work with have low muscle tone - this can lead to breathing problems and back problems down the road.  We reach the top of our heads toward the ceiling and practice shrugging our shoulders up to our ears and then rolling our shoulders back and down a few times before finally settling into the pose.  To get class started, I also like to do a few audible exhales - we breathe in deeply through our noses, then breathe out loudly through our mouths.  Here's Mercedes having some fun with this:

Dressed to Impress

One of the kids in my yoga and autism group at Touchstone is named Kobi.  Kobi really likes the other girl in our class named Lilly.  At our second class, Kobi showed up wearing, I kid you not, an awesome pin-stripe SUIT.  Not stretchy yoga clothes, but a suit.  He was ready to impress Lilly.  He even brought a little Happy Meal toy to give her as a gift.  Unfortunately, as life goes, there was a change in the routine – Lilly was really sick and couldn’t make it to class.

Naturally, Kobi got pretty upset.  One characteristic of autism is the inability to be flexible with a routine or schedule, and Lilly being absent definitely threw off his routine.  He started screaming and crying, telling us that this was not fair and that Lilly had to come.  His mom said that he had been having a very rough week, and once he started going, he probably would not stop for the rest of the evening.

As Kobi ripped off his jacket and shoes and walked down the hallway screaming, his mom had to excuse herself for a breather.  Myself and Elizabeth, who works for Touchstone, worked on trying to calm him down.  We were ultimately successful with having Kobi use a cell phone to take pictures of his suit and toys he brought for Lilly, and then send them to her mom.  After about half an hour, he was under control, and I asked him if he was ready for yoga.  He right away ran out to get his mom, tell her he was ready for yoga, and help me set the yoga mats up.

Although he was pretty upset with the change in routine, he was ultimately able to calm himself down and really enjoy the (shortened) yoga practice.  I brought a Tibetan singing bowl with me, which if you haven’t heard, sounds really cool and is also very relaxing.  He really enjoyed making the bowl “sing” at the beginning and end of our class. 

It was awesome to see the stress and anxiety leave his mom as he got settled in and really enjoyed the rest of class.  We did a few activities that allowed him to stretch and balance with his mom, hopefully helping to ease some of the tension.

At the end of the first class, I gave them some “homework” – working on a breathing exercise at home.  Although he had been having a rough week, he did say that he worked on his breathing.  His mom said she was also working on her breathing to calm herself when Kobi was having a breakdown.  Once he even told her she was “breathing too loud.”  She also said that he was very excited to show children in another one of his therapy groups what he had learned in yoga class.  Hopefully his excitement for yoga continues and he is able to use what he learns both as coping strategies and ways to relate to other kids!

Yoga and Autism

Autism is a neurological disorder with no known cause that affects a person's communication and social skills.  It is a spectrum disorder with mild autism (Asperger's Syndrome) on the high end.  Autism is a disability that presents differently in each person who has it, and the incidence of this disorder is thought to be about 1 in every 150 children.  People with autism often have difficulty interacting with others and have issues with communicating.  Some people may present as non-verbal.  People with autism often also have sensory integration issues, where they may be hyper- or hypo-sensitive to things such as sounds, tastes, textures, and lights.  They also thrive on routines and schedules, and any variation from a daily routine may cause anxiety or a meltdown for a person with autism.

If you google "autism therapy" there are literally hundreds of different therapies and treatments people have used to treat autism.  There is no "cure" for autism as it is - just management of symptoms.  Early intervention (beginning treatment as early as possible with a child who is presenting on the autism spectrum) is appearing to be an effective treatment that could help reduce symptoms.

I am currently working on yoga therapy with children with autism.  Yoga is a calming practice, and teaching kids with autism breathing techniques can offer them an effective way to deal with stress in other environments.  Yoga can also help someone with body awareness - kids with autism may have trouble controlling their bodies and identifying different sensations in their own bodies such as hunger or pain.  Yoga can help increase awareness of what is being felt (knowing how to deep to go in a pose or stretch before you start to feel pain) and can also help a student increase awareness of how their body moves, by moving between left, right, and center, and balancing on different parts of the body.

In my current yoga therapy group, I include parents and siblings.  Being a part of a family that includes someone with a disability can be a very difficult thing.  Yoga offers a time for families to bond and do an enjoyable, stress-free activity together.  Parents and siblings also learn valuable breathing and stress-relief techniques, and can work on these at home as a family.

I am lucky to be working with Touchstone Behavioral Health's Family-Centered Autism Program.  We just started our 8-week family yoga group.  If you are interested in the services Touchstone offers, visit their website.

Why Kids Yoga?

Yoga is an ancient practice that is quickly becoming a mainstream activity.  There is a lot of research out there about the benefits of yoga – reduced stress, lowered blood pressure, lower body weight, higher self-esteem, and greater flexibility and strength. All of these things make yoga a very desirable activity for adults.  There are so many types of yoga, from a basics class to a power class to a restorative class, that there really is an option out there for everyone.

More recently, it’s become clear that all of the benefits an adult can receive from yoga would also be beneficial to kids.  Child obesity is on the rise, and a sedentary lifestyle could definitely contribute to this.  Many children don’t enjoy team sports, or aren’t the most athletic or flexible, so they simply choose not to exercise.  Yoga is a non-competitive activity that gets kids up and moving while still allowing them to shine to their greatest potential.  The child who may not be the fastest runner may be able to hold tree pose far longer than his classmates, and this could give a wonderful boost to the child’s self-esteem.

Kids yoga is meant to be FUN! Most kids classes incorporate games, stories, and songs with yoga poses to make the class engaging and interactive.  Breathing and meditation exercises are also included to introduce the more grounding, calming effects of yoga.

If you are interested in introducing yoga to your child, I teach a fun kids yoga class on Mondays and Wednesdays from 4:30-5:45 at Blissful Yoga Studio Arrowhead.  I also offer private and family lessons.  What better way to get some bonding time with your child and learn more about yoga?  Contact me if you would like more information!