Autistic kids are often withdrawn and self-absorbed. Some are more interested and fixated on objects rather than people. Anger and rage may flare if autistic kids are disrupted from their usual behavioral patterns. So why would autistic kids sit still long enough to break their patterns and listen to a yoga instructor? Yet, yoga instruction in classrooms across the United States has demonstrated that autistic kids respond well to them. Autistic students become calmer, interact better with others, demonstrate improved problem-solving skills at school and at home, learn to conceptualize better and demonstrate improved self-esteem.
Integrated Movement Therapy
Molly Kenny, a Seattle speech pathologist and yoga instructor, invented Integrated Movement Therapy after she discovered that touch or movement, combined with verbal exercises, resulted in improvement in speech and mood in her patients. Those results led Kenny to believe that a therapy combining practical language exercises with yoga disciplines involving meditation techniques and yoga postures might address some difficulties faced by autistic kids. Teachers of the yoga classes develop activities according to the ages and the preferences of the kids.
Calming Benefits
After each activity, the kids are asked to sit quietly and calm their bodies. The kids learn that self-calming is connected with activity. They also learn that they are not necessarily being punished when they are asked to be quiet. Teachers report that autistic kids in the program experienced a strong calming effect which became more apparent the longer they were in the program.
Self-Awareness
IMT helps autistic kids become more self-aware, which helps them in several ways. Yoga enables the kids to get in touch with their bodies, become more aware of their emotions, and gives them coping skills when they feel anxious, afraid or stressed. Kids in the yoga classes become more aware of others as well, interacting and making eye contact more often.
Self-Esteem
In addition to the problems faced by autistic kids, school can add to the difficulties. School can be bewildering to kids with autism, and teachers often must control students in ways that make kids feel they are being punished. One benefit of the IMT program is in the increased self-esteem the kids receive.
