Friday Q A Research on Yoga for Children with Autism

Q: I was wondering if you have any research on yoga for children with special needs especially autism? This is my area of expertise and I teach yoga to children with special needs but also as an behavioural therapist would be great to support my work with research. Many thanks.

A: Yes! There is a growing body of research in the field of yoga therapy in general. An estimated 500 peer-reviewed studies have been published to date. A fraction of them address yoga for children and, as is the case with all research in this field, larger clinical trials are needed. But it’s fun to peek into this emerging field and see that there is indeed research being published to support our valuable work with children. 

There are a few papers specifically on yoga for children with autism, or what is now called Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The International Journal of Yoga Therapy published a paper by Molly Kenny in 2002 Integrated Movement Therapy™: Yoga-Based Therapy as a Viable and Effective Intervention for Autism Spectrum and Related Disorders. In this paper Kenny states that her approach “…has had especially consistent and remarkable results with children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders.” Read more about her methods and findings here: samaryacenter.org/assets/ijyt2002.pdf.

A study published in November of 2011 is Relaxation Response-Based Yoga Improves Functioning in Young Children with Autism: A Pilot Study. In the conclusion, the study reports, “Robust changes” and, “Unexpectedly, the post-treatment scores on the Atypicality scale of the BASC-2, which measures some of the core features of autism, changed significantly (p=0.003).” Many other papers cited this paper, so those who are interested can find themselves down a rabbit hole of research. 

Kristie Patten Koenig, Anne Buckley-Reen and Satvika Garg published a research article in the American Journal of Occupational Therapy in September 2012 Efficacy of the Get Ready to Learn Yoga Program Among Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Pretest–Posttest Control Group Design.  Children in this study received this specific program daily for 16 weeks as part of their standard morning routine. In the abstract they report, “This study demonstrates that use of daily classroom wide yoga interventions has a significant impact on key classroom behaviors among children with ASD.”

And finally, a study published in the International Journal of Yoga in January of 2010 Application of integrated yoga therapy to increase imitation skills in children with autism spectrum disorder indicates similar positive benefits. Children with ASD tend to socialize less, make less eye contact and imitate others less than their typically developing peers. This study looked at yoga as a modality for improving theses skills. They concluded from this study that their particular program of yoga “…may offer benefits as an effective tool to increase imitation, cognitive skills and social-communicative behaviors in children with ASD. In addition, children exhibited increased skills in eye contact, sitting tolerance, non-verbal communication and receptive skills to verbal commands related to spatial relationship.”

For those interested in further research, type in “yoga” and “autism” and “children” into either pubmed or scholar.google.com. It can be tedious to read through dry academic publications, yet it’s also inspiring to see how much attention is being given to these three words together.

Each child is unique and there is no “one-size-fits-all” formula to be captured in a study. However, these research papers from the field show that there is interest as well as benefit in yoga for children with autism.

—Mira

Mira Binzen is a registered yoga teacher with Yoga Alliance at the 500-hour level (E-RYT, RCYT) and a certified iRest Yoga Nidra teacher, and is a professional Integrative Yoga Therapist (1,000-hour level certificate). She holds a degree in Child Psychology from the University of Minnesota's Institute of Child Development, with specialized study in Communication Disorders. As co-founder of Global Family Yoga, she he has been training people to teach yoga to children since 2002. For more information about Mira, see her website mirabinzen.com.

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Importance Of Summer Camps Calgary To Children

By Kenneth Williams

As a parent, you may be wondering where to take your children during the summer vacation. However, this should not worry you anymore. There are great ways in which your children can spend the long awaited summer holiday. For instance, camping has been one of the suitable ways of spending this holiday. If you are a parent, you ought to prepare your kids for camping as this leave them exposed to many different life aspects. For instance, summer camps Calgary are usually associated with several benefits.

Here are some of the advantages, which come as a result of taking children to encampments especially during their vocation. For example, children are in a position to involve themselves in recreational activities. Some children do not get an opportunity to get actively involved in some creational activities such as swimming, rope skipping hiking or even running. Nevertheless, encampments give children an opportunity to participate in such activities. Such activities keep children active and happy throughout the day.

Self-confidence is a very important aspect in life. In most cases, this aspect is acquired as one grow up. Encampments are some of the places where children are able to improve their confidence and self-esteem. For example, children participate in several competition activities, which are aimed to measure their abilities and weaknesses. When these competitions are held, some kids end up losing while others get to win. This is when kids realize that they can succeed in life and this makes them to become more confident of themselves.

Parents are usually advised to teach their kids how to live an independent life. While at home, children cannot learn this vital aspect of life. Encampments give the best opportunity for kids to learn how to lead an independent life when away from their parents. Furthermore, kids become responsible for everything they in life.

The modern technology has stolen the brains of many children today. A large number of kids usually spend their time watching television programs especially during the summer holiday. One way to separate kids from these technologies is exposing them to camping experience. Additionally, children are given a chance to face the real world, emotions and activities.

Again, kids get to meet with others who come from completely different families and backgrounds. In a short while, they start socializing with each other hence making new friends. Through these interactions, children learn how to socialize with each other and this helps in strengthening their socialization skills. Additionally, kids learn how to share and the benefits of teamwork.

Many times, talents and abilities of different children usually go unnoticed especially if parents do not closely monitor what their children like doing most. Camps are believed to help many kids in improving their abilities and talents. They usually open their minds to see the hidden potentials after, which they work tirelessly to make some improvements.

There are common plays, which children are used to at homes. Some of the structured plays make kids to become bored with time hence losing touch. Whenever children get a chance to go for summer camps, they get exposed to several unstructured plays. These plays add to their playlist after, which they start playing them while at home.

About the Author:

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