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Monkey Mind Pirates wanted posters

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Arrgh Matey…. Pirate-Themed Kids Yoga Lesson Plan Ideas & Adapted Yoga

Posted on June 29, 2013 by OMazing Kids

Arrgh Matey…. looking for activities to keep the Monkey Mind Pirates off your ship this summer? Activities that can be adapted for a wide range of ages, needs & abilities? Follow this OMazing Kids treasure map to find the Isle of Calm and a summer filled with pirate-themed yoga, affirmations, relaxation, crafts & more!

Week 1 of Camp ClapHans at the JD McCarty Center primarily had kids with ADHD. After reading through the campers registration forms, I knew that my usual “storybook” approach to yoga would not be the best choice for the older group of boys at camp that week. So I jumped out of my comfort zone & planned some freestyle yoga storytelling with a little structure based on the Monkey Mind Pirates workbook & CD. As I was setting up, I overheard the boys commenting “yoga is for girls”, “I don’t like yoga”, “Do we have to?”. Fearing a mutiny, I calmed & centered myself with yoga breathing & listening to a few tunes from my playlist as I continued setting up. When I set out the Hoberman Sphere & the Vibratone, two of the boys were drawn like moths to a flame. {Ahhhh….. the magic of yoga props!}. Before I knew it, the rest of the boys were seated on mats intrigued by what we were going to do.

To set the stage for our yoga adventure, I played “Welcome Aboard” by Rockin’ Ron the Friendly Pirate and read this script from the Monkey Mind Pirates in my best “piratey” voice:

We went over the “rules of the ship” with this visual support….. we didn’t want anyone to fall out of the ship or have to walk the plank….. Arrgh!

I also used a visual support to show the kids that we would be breathing through our noses (like smelling a flower) and blowing our breath out through our mouth (like blowing out a candle).

We rolled up our treasure maps…… the key to making this a pleasant experience is to ALWAYS ask permission first. Ask who wants to be rolled up. Most kids love this & it is very calming to them. But some kids are fearful of trying it. In this class, I had two boys who were hesitant to try it. One ended up asking to do it after he saw the others enjoying it. One sat and watched. He kept a look out for Monkey Mind Pirates as the rest rolled up in the maps. By honoring his choice to not be “rolled”, it opened up the door for him to feel comfortable participating in most of the activities later in the class.

The kids were in charge of how long they wanted to stay rolled up & if they wanted to repeat the activity.

Doing a breathing activity from Monkey Mind Pirates…..

This boy initially insisted he was NOT going to do yoga! He didn’t even want to sit on a mat……. but after a few minutes of watching from afar look who got on the pirate ship and ended up LOVING yoga. In fact, staff reported that later in the week he was one of the ones using the 3 strategies we learned to ward off Monkey Mind Pirates as a means to self-regulate. A great example of how yoga is so much more than just having fun in that moment…… it’s also about helping kids discover tools they can use to feel calm and empowered every day 🙂

Activities & poses on our Monkey Mind Pirates adventure: rolled up treasure maps, Gyan Mudra spyglass, seated twist to look for Monkey Mind Pirates (Sir Winston, Ansel the Antsy & Lady Bronte. I made a “wanted” poster for each Monkey Mind Pirate so they would know what we were looking for. The Monkey Mind Pirates CD comes with some trading card sized pictures but these were too small to see in a group setting. One of the campers asked if the Monkey Mind Pirates were puppets….. gotta love a child with Aspergers Syndrome’s ability to immediately infer that from the wanted poster pictures! I explained that the real Monkey Mind Pirate puppets were sailing elsewhere but we never knew when they might appear. Fortunately he bought my story… or at least humored me and we kept going with our adventure), raise the sail (triangle pose), pirate flag waving in the ocean breeze (crescent moon), setting sail on our pirate ship in search of the treasure in the “Waters of Calm” (boat), sun shining down (breathing activity pictured above), laugher yoga (the tip for taming Winston), breathing (the tip for taming Ansel the Antsy. I added the Hoberman Sphere), 1-2-3 counting breath + mindful listening (the tip for taming Lady Bronte) {we practiced each of the 3 taming tips several times as we sailed. They knew to look out for a Monkey Mind Pirate when I sounded the Vibratone & held up one of the wanted posters. Made my heart smile to see how quickly they remembered & did the tip for each one}, X marks the spot (star), digging for treasure (woodchopper), treasure chest (seated forward fold), gyan mudra gold doubloons, guided relaxation (using the Relaxing on the Beach mp3 from Relax Kids). At first the boys were a little wiggly but they quickly calmed and a couple almost fell asleep. Remember, this was a group of boys with ADHD who rarely experience that level of “calm”. The calmness was so noticeable that the Camp ClapHans assistants asked if I could come do yoga with the boys every night! I reassured them that they had learned the 3 tips for taming Monkey Mind Pirates along with the boys and that they could use the strategies with them throughout the day & night 🙂 Ahhhh…. yes mateys that is the true treasure found in the “Waters of Calm”.

The girls group in Week 1 went on a beach-themed yoga adventure with “Ladybug Girl at the Beach”. I chose NOT to do a “pirate” class with this group since I knew one of the participants very well after having worked with her in outpatient speech-language therapy. This particular child has a VERY difficult time distinguishing between reality and imagination and would often assume alternate personalities. So I was pretty sure the pirate theme might trigger some swashbuckling aggressive behaviors in her. I also did NOT pass any props (Hoberman Sphere & Vibratone) in this class since this particular child has a history of damaging things. Of course the girls group had no idea that I had chosen a different theme for that reason and LOVED the adventures of Ladybug Girl. (I’ll be including yoga ideas for that book in a summer-themed post soon). The reason I share this is to remind folks that knowing info about kids before doing lesson planning will help guide you in making good choices in customizing a class to best match those kids’ needs.

Ladybug Girl looking out at the big waves in the ocean through the Gyan Mudra binoculars (FYI…. this is not the child I was describing above. She was one of the other campers. It made my heart smile to see how well she already knew how to do yoga! When she saw the seagull in the book she spontaneously went into Pigeon Pose….. one that I have a difficult time getting into myself.)

Week 2 of Camp ClapHans primarily had kids with physical disabilities. Because I had reviewed camp registration forms & knew several of the kids from seeing them as outpatients as JDMC, I chose a book that would lend itself well to these kids developmental levels, interests & physical needs. I played “The Porpoises and the Pirate Ship” by Brent Holmes & “Welcome Aboard” by Rockin’ Ron the Friendly Pirate as I set up for the group to set the scene. We still did a pirate theme. But this time it was all with seated poses with the book “There Was An Old Pirate Who Swallowed a Fish” by Jennifer Ward. The kids chose whether they wanted to stay in their wheelchair or get down on a mat with a camp assistant to support them.

{Note for SLP’s: The repeated & cumulative lines, big vivid illustrations & humorous descriptive vocabulary has made “There Was An Old Pirate Who Swallowed a Fish” a new “fave” to use in speech-language therapy! I scanned the pirate & cut out his lower teeth to make room to “feed” him & made story props for each item he swallows in the story. These are also great to use for receptive & expressive language, sequencing & story retelling. For kids yoga, I wrote pose ideas on the back of each one with a fine-tipped permanent marker after I laminated them. The prop on the far right is for the repeated line “Yo Ho Ho! Watch his belly grow!”. It’s great to attach to a BigMack or other single message voice output communication aide (VOCA) for kids with minimal verbal skills to be able to participate in “reading” the repeating line. Get the free printable story props in this PDF: There Was An Old Pirate Who Swallowed a Fish story props}

{Update: 7/4/13: The illustrator, Steve Gray, generously posted a couple of illustrations on my Facebook page to use as coloring sheets after the author contacted him: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151554767913845&set=o.174264525957894&type=1&theater& https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151554766543845&set=o.174264525957894&type=1&theater

There Was An Old Pirate Who Swallowed a Fish – coloring sheets

Ok on to what we did in yoga…. This child is doing the pose for the pirate ship mast (a seated version of mountain pose with hands up and together for a tall, straight mast). It made my heart smile to see him using his iPad to tell his outpatient PT at JDMC that he wanted to go back to camp this week 🙂

It’s fine to take a rest on the pirate ship…….

Blimey but that fish was slimey!

Adapted activities & poses specifically chosen for this group of kids (all were done while kids were seated in whatever position was comfortable for them): ocean breath, gyan mudra spyglass, pirate (“Arrgh” breath + moving fist across midline on each side), fish (clasped hands together at midline & wiggled them in a modified sign for “fish”), blimey that fish was slimey (palming to wipe off the fish slime), “yo ho ho watch his belly grow” belly breathing w/ Hoberman Sphere (this is a repeated line at the end of each page), bird (stretch arms behind like wings), treasure map (roll arms around each other forwards & then back), gyan mudra gold doubloons, treasure chest (seated forward fold), plank (seated cross crawl, foot stomping or patting on legs as “footsteps” depending on that child’s ability to move their lower extremities), sail (seated side bends as a modified version of triangle), mast (a seated version of mountain pose with hands up and together for a tall, straight mast), pirate ship (boat with lots of support from that child’s camp assistant. The two boys in wheelchairs had a recline feature on their chair so they were able to participate). Because all the poses were done seated, they flowed easily as we repeated them through the cumulative story. I paused at key times to see what the kids would remember……. so fun the see their delight at remembering the word + pose. At the end of the book we sank to the bottom of the deep blue sea like the pirate in the book with a guided relaxation (using the Under the Sea story from the Imaginations: Fun Relaxation Stories and Meditations for Kids book with the Pirate Ship sound from the Relaxing Sounds Of Nature Lite free app (gentle sounds of a pirate ship creaking, waves & seagulls) and a weighted fish toy to ride on the waves of each child’s breath). After relaxation we listened to the song “Seven C’s” by Rockin’ Ron the Friendly Pirate and talked about the “courage” it took for them to come to camp and try so many new things (if you haven’t heard this song yet you should….. a really cool way to incorporate some yamas/niyamas into a pirate themed class! “there’s COURTESY, COMPASSION and a bit of COURAGE too. With CLEANLINESS and CLEVENESS they’re good for me and you. Plus CHEERFULNESS and CHARITY now that makes Seven C’s.…”). We used a gold doubloon & treasure chest prop to talk about treasures inside each of us. As each child said or signed what they were good at or liked about themselves, they added a gold doubloon to the treasure chest. I left an “I’m more precious than gold coin affirmation” page with the camp assistants to offer to the kids during their journaling time later that day so they could write or draw additional things about themselves and their new camp friends.

These were just 30-minute classes so we didn’t have time to do a pirate-themed craft. But I found several online that would be fun to do. See this printable for the coins & treasure chest we used plus more fun ideas: Pirate coin affirmation printables, crafts, activities & coloring pages

Piratey Playlist:

Rockin’ Ron the Friendly Pirate CD
Monkey Mind Pirates CD
Sea Tunes for Kids CD by Brent Holmes
Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Swashbuckling Sea Songs CD
Disney’s Yo Ho (A Pirate’s Life for Me) Instrumental by George Bruns
Rockin’ & Rollin’ On the Ocean by John Archambault & David Plummer
A Yogi Went to Sea by Kidding Around Yoga
Reiki Whale Song CD by Kamal (lots of great songs featuring whale sounds for relaxation)
Pirate Ship sound from the Relaxing Sounds Of Nature Lite free app
Plus I have lots of songs about individual ocean animals to use if needed

Please remember to keep kids individual sensory needs, developmental level, interests, etc… in mind when choosing particular music to use in a class.

I purposefully did not bring any pirate swords or hooks since those would naturally lead to kids wanting to have swashbuckling sword fights.

I’d love to hear your ideas for more “pirate yoga”! Feel free to leave a comment below or on the OMazing Kids Facebook page 🙂

Angela Moorad, MS, CCC-SLP, IAYT, RCYP-2

Speech-Language Pathologist

Founder of OMazing Kids, LLC – inclusive wellness activities for kids of all abilities

Radiant Child Yoga Certified – Levels 1 & 2

E-Mail: amoorad1@juno.com

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Review & A Way To Give Giveaway: Body Songs & Stories for Children with Special Needs – Vol. 1 DVD

Posted on June 23, 2013 by OMazing Kids

Product Description: Body Songs & Stories™ was created by Stephanie Gottlob & Yuji Oka to help children with special needs including Autism, Sensory Processing Disorder, ADHD, Down Syndrome & other developmental delays or emotional challenges. Using easy-to-learn video instructions, parents, caregivers, teachers & therapists can learn how to perform different hand textures to accompany each body songs. It is designed to foster emotional & physical communication between children & their caregivers. There are 5 original Body Songs on the Vol. 1 DVD.

This DVD features Welcome & Intro sections with fabulous info about setting up a positive environment & safety tips. There are 5 Body Songs included in both “Practice Mode” (the music & lyrics in karaoke style) & “Experiential Mode” (videos of Stephanie demonstrating doing each Body Song and the touch movements on kids while singing the songs).

1-2-3 Song
Zoo Song
Seasons Song
Birthday Song
Up In The Hill Song

The 14-page DVD Booklet features:

Authors’ Note
Getting Started
Descriptions of the 6 hand textures movements (tapping, pounding, deep pressure, brushing, rocking & scratching)
Do’s and Don’t’s
Learning Body Songs
How to Use the DVD
When to Use Body Songs

The DVD also contains a 13 page PDF file that can be opened on a computer. It contains sheet music for each Body Song with lyrics & motions. Here’s a screenshot of the two pages for the Zoo Song:

Here is a “sneek-peek” at a few screenshots from the DVD:

Be sure to watch the Welcome section & Getting Started (parts 1 & 2) for great info:

From the 1-2-3 Song:

From the Zoo Song:

From the Seasons Song:

From the Birthday Song:

From the Up In the Hills Song:

The “Meet the Parents & Kids Like You” section is powerful!

Here’s what I love about the DVD:

Stephanie & Yuji’s passion for helping kids with special needs shines through! Even though I’ve never met them in person, I feel a connection with these kindred spirits. This DVD is definitely being added to my short list of “must have” faves for folks wanting to do adapted yoga / adapted movement with kids with special needs. They have more products in the works which I can’t wait to see!
The DVD is presented in a very easy to understand format.
The Body Songs & hand texture movements are easy to learn. These techniques will be great to incorporate into my OMazing Kids yoga classes & my work as a Speech-Language Pathologist!
The DVD booklet & intro section of the DVD provide info for creative use of each hand texture movement (ex: “deep press” to simulate elephants, stones or other heavy objects)
They provide very clear info about being sensitive to each child’s unique sensory needs and the sensory aspects of each hand texture movement.
They provide clear info about setting up a positive environment & safety precautions before getting started.
They encourage you to practice on another adult & have an adult practice on you before trying it out with kids. “The quality of your touch conveys the image of the song”.
While the DVD is designed for kids ages 2-9 years old, from my experience it would also be appropriate with older kids who are functioning at a lower developmental level.
The “Meet the Parents & Kids Like You” section is powerful! Hear stories from four parents about how using these techniques impacted their child’s motor planning, body awareness, self awareness, confidence, social skills, connections to siblings (& even pets), relaxation & more.

See a preview on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1kdf6L8zA0

Purchase: Available on the company’s website: http://movementforkidswithspecialneeds.org/home/teaching-aids/. Also available on the Playtime Yoga website: http://www.playtimeyoga.com/bodysongsstories.html (** Note: they have an intro price sale on it through 12:00am PDT on July 6, 2013).

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Spiral-Praxis/173082326070416

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/spiralmovementcenter

Disclaimer: I received a free sample of this product to facilitate my review. Opinions expressed are my own.Starting in 2013, a new component of reviews & giveaways hosted on OMazing Kids is that a review will be added on Amazon.com (for products sold on that site). See my Amazon profile at: https://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A1JKVLELLSX7FD?ie=UTF8&ref_=cm_aya_bb_pdp.

A Way to Give - Giveaway

How to enter the A Way to Give – Giveaway:

Required Entry Method: Enter via the “Giveaways” tab on the OMazing Kids – Contests & Giveaways Facebook page (http://a.pgtb.me/plpbTf) & mention why this DVD would be helpful to you. Also nominate a friend, relative, teacher, therapist, school, clinic, library, etc… it can be any individual (other than yourself) or setting that you feel could benefit from having the DVD & tell us why they would benefit from having it (details will count in selecting the winner). Only entries that include a nomination will be valid…. so take the time to think of someone besides yourself who would benefit from having this. (comments must be in English; must include full first & last name; must use respectful people-first language, 1 entry per person).
Bonus Entry Options:

Invite some friends to “like” the OMazing Kids Facebook page (comment here on this blog post to let me know you did)
Share this review on Facebook & include a @OMazing Kids to tag my page – (comment here on this blog post to let me know you did)

Helpful Info & Tips: I use the “Giveaways” tab because it saves me the step having to obtain your mailing address – the info you complete on the tab comes directly to me via an e-mail. FYI…. I use a free app from Shortstack for that tab and have no control over technical difficulties either on their end or on Facebook. The Facebook tab may not work on a cell phone. If you experience that, try again on a computer. Make sure you are logged in as yourself (not a page) when using the tab. In the event that you experience difficulties with the FB entry tab, please e-mail me specific details so I can attempt to fix it. E-mail to: amoorad1@juno.com . The entry deadline may be extended at the sole discretion of OMazing Kids in the event of prolonged entry tab problems

Each “giveaway” is handled separately on OMazing Kids. So there are no rules prohibiting previous winners from entering this or future giveaways. I really do read every entry in every giveaway carefully to insure that the products end up in the best hands to impact kids lives.

Examples of “people-first” language are “children with autism” vs. “autistic children”and “children with disabilities” vs. “disabled children” (see more examples at: http://www.inclusionproject.org/nip_userfiles/file/People%20First%20Chart.pdf)

Entry Deadline: 11:59pm CST on June 26, 2013.

Rules of Participation:

Must be 18 years or older with a valid e-mail address.
International entries are being allowed for this particular giveaway.
Employees or family members of OMazing Kids, LLC or the product’s company are not eligible.
No purchase required.
Comments submitted via the Enter Giveaways Here…. tab on Facebook may be copied & pasted into the blog post.
Odds of winning will depend on the number of eligible entries received.
The winner will be chosen from valid entries on June 27, 2013.

The winner & the person/place they nominate will each receive 1 copy of the DVD.

(I know this is a bit out-of-the box & different than most typical giveaways where the person who enters wins all the “stuff”. This is the new “A Way To Give” portion of giveaways on OMazing Kids. I was inspired to make giveaways more meaningful after this experience. Think of it as a way to plant some seeds.)

The winners will be notified via e-mail, will be posted on the blog post & will be posted on the OMazing Kids Facebook page. The company offering the prize may also post the winner’s name on their website, blog, Facebook page and/or other social media sites at their discretion.
The winner’s address will be forwarded to the company and they will be mailing the prizes directly to the winners. Any questions about the prize should be directed to the company.
Prize Value: $18.00 for each DVD

Other Legal Stuff: I know it’s just a DVD but just to be safe here is all the legal stuff…

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Angela Moorad, MS, CCC-SLP, IAYT, RCYP-2

Speech-Language Pathologist

Founder of OMazing Kids, LLC – inclusive wellness activities for kids of all abilities

Radiant Child Yoga Certified – Levels 1 & 2

E-Mail: amoorad1@juno.com

Contests & Giveaways on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/OMazingKidsContestsandGiveaways

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/#omazing-kids-yoga

Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/110305433538768736741

Boardmaker Share: http://www.boardmakershare.com/Community/FriendsProfile/10916/Angela-Moorad

https://omazingkidsllc.com/research-roundup/

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New: Research Roundup on the OMazing Kids Blog

Posted on September 12, 2012 by OMazing Kids

Announcing a new feature on the OMazing Kids Blog: “Research Roundup”.

This page is dedicated to sharing research & articles relating to kids wellness, including yoga, with a focus on Autism and other special needs.

Articles are listed in order of publication dates with most recent publications listed first.

When available, I am sharing links to full research articles rather than just the “abstract”. Advocates and practitioners are cautioned to read more that just an “abstract” in order to understand research study results because abstracts rarely mention any limitations to the study, they report only key findings, and the brevity of the paragraph (typically 120 words) may tend to provide an overly optimistic read of the study and what was found. For more info about reading & understanding research articles: http://www.uky.edu/CRVAW/files/Understanding%20Scientific%20Journal%20Articles.pdf & http://www.womenshealthapta.org/pdfs/HowToResearchArticle.pdf

It includes a full PDF of the latest research on yoga for kids with Autism:

Efficacy of the Get Ready to Learn Yoga Program Among Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: a Pretest-Posttest Control Group Design

By Kristie Patten Koenig, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, Anne Buckley-Reen, OTR/L, RYT & Satvika Garg, MS, OTR/L, Published in The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, September/October 2012, Volume 66, Number 5

Abstract: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22917120

Full PDF: https://omazingkidsyoga.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/efficacy-of-the-get-ready-to-learn-yoga-program-among-children-with-autism-spectrum-disorders-a-pretest-posttest-control-group-design-am-j-occup-ther-2012-sep665538-46.pdf

Feel free to e-mail me at amoorad1@juno.com if you would like to share an article to be posted

Angela Moorad, MS, CCC-SLP, IAYT, RCYP-2

Speech-Language Pathologist at the JD McCarty Center in Norman, Oklahoma (http://www.jdmc.org/)

Founder of OMazing Kids, LLC – inclusive wellness activities for kids of all abilities

Radiant Child Yoga Certified – Levels 1 & 2

E-Mail: amoorad1@juno.com

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Tips for Working with Kids with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Posted on April 30, 2012 by OMazing Kids

Working with kids with Autism Spectrum Disorders is my passion & area of expertise as a Speech-Language Pathologist. I have had several folks contact me recently via Facebook and e-mail asking for a few tips.

The most important thing when working with kids, including those with Autism Spectrum Disorders or any other special needs, is to get info about the kids and get to know them as individuals. I have been a SLP for 22 years and have worked with hundreds of kids with ASD ranging from infants (pre-diagnosis) to 21 years of age….. and the saying is definitely true “when you have met one person with Autism, you have met ONE person with Autism”. Every child is a unique individual….. like each of us is a unique individual. But there are also some general things that are helpful to know if you are considering working with kids with ASD so here are a few general tips:

* use visual supports (see several posts: https://omazingkidsllc.com/?s=visual+supports).

* have a predictable routine.

* be mindful of the sensory issues of each individual child (many are easily overstimulated by smells, lights, extra props, music, noises, etc…). Be mindful of this when picking yoga mats to use. Avoid ones with a strong odor, over-stimulating colors and/or distracting designs or patterns. Kids with ASD can take things very literally so if you have a yoga mat with a certain animal or pose on it they may think that is the only pose they can do on that mat. Non-toxic, eco-friendly yoga mats in solid, calming shades of blues & greens are my typical recommendation. There is actually some research about kids with special needs reactions to certain colors and many individuals with ASD were drawn to blues & greens and I have found this to be true in my personal practice as well.

* be aware that many individuals with ASD have difficulty making and maintaining eye contact. Many teens and adults with ASD have described eye contact as an overwhelming and sometimes painful sensory experience. Many have also described that eye contact can be so overwhelming that to look and listen at the same time is too much sensory information. In my work as a SLP, I have found it helpful to teach kids how to “approximate” eye contact by periodically looking at something in the facial region (ex: eyebrows, nose, chin, rim of eye glasses) of the conversational partner as a way to be socially engaging while still respecting their own sensory needs. I have seen way too many kids with ASD in my career where direct, unatural eye contact was overemphasized and the results are not usually good.

* don’t be too quick to judge whether or not a child with ASD is “enjoying” yoga or any other activity….. I have seen many kids initially be resistant or ambivalent to yoga and other activities end up loving it when given the opportunity to experience it on their own terms & at their own pace.

* be mindful of group dynamics & group size… many kids with ASD are overwhelmed in large groups.

* be mindful of the sensory aspects of the poses and breathing activities. Kids with ASD often have very significant Sensory Processing problems and can be very sensitive to poses that require balance or inversion. In general, poses that provide “flexion” tend to be calming, poses that provide “extension” tend to be alerting & energizing and poses that use both sides of the body and/or cross midline tend to promote focusing.

* many kids with ASD have “high interest” areas….. with some kids these make good theme choices to get them interested.

* many kids with ASD have poor motor planning skills and auditory processing problems so you may need to modify/simplify poses and use very simple instructions (one step at a time). You may need to wait a few seconds to allow the child to process verbal information. It is also helpful to provide a consistent cue before giving instructions and pairing verbal instructions with simple sign language/gestures and visual supports.

* always ask the child’s permission before touching or offering help with a pose & get info ahead of time about how that child reacts to touch. As a general rule of thumb more of them tolerate deep/firm pressure better than light touch…. but this can vary greatly from child to child.

Here is a link to a presentation I did at the Oklahoma Autism Conference: https://omazingkidsllc.com/2011/11/20/omazing-kids-yoga-therapeutic-yoga-for-kids-and-teens-with-autism-handouts-links-for-presentation-at-the-oklahoma-autism-conference-11-19-11 /. It includes links to lots of great resources, video clips and research articles.

And a post I did about inclusion: https://omazingkidsllc.com/2012/01/16/universal-design-for-inclusive-kids-yoga-inclusion-is-belonging/

There are lots of great folks out there doing adapted yoga for kids with ASD. Here are links to a few of my faves:

Bodylogique: http://www.bodylogique.com/, http://www.facebook.com/BodyLogique, blog: http://bodylogique.blogspot.com/. Check out the interview Barbara did last April: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/yoga-in-my-school/2011/04/06/yoga-for-autism-with-barbara-gini. She also did a webinar “Yoga for Children with Autism” earlier this month with Donna Freeman at Yoga In My School (available for purchase: http://yogainmyschool.com/store/webinars/).

ZensationalKids: http://zensationalkids.com/, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Zensational-Kids-LLC/201943263172877. Allison is a licensed occupational therapist, a Registered Yoga Teacher and is a trainer with Radiant Child Yoga. She co-teaches their specialty course “Yoga for Differently-Abled Children: Working With ADHD, Autism and Sensory Processing Issues”.

S.T.O.P. and Relax: http://www.stopandrelax.net/, http://www.facebook.com/stopandrelax.net

A great post on the Spirit of Autism blog: http://spiritofautism.org/2011/11/10/7-benefits-of-yoga-for-autism/

A great book is “Yoga Therapy for Every Special Child – Meeting Needs in a Natural Setting” by Nancy Williams. It’s a “must-have” for anyone doing adapted or therapeutic yoga. Nancy is a Speech-Language Pathologist & Registered Yoga Teacher. http://yogatherapy4children.com/index.html, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Yoga-Therapy-4-Every-Special-Child/151568364912636.

Hope this helps!

You can also reach me at amoorad1@juno.com if you ever want to chat via e-mail 🙂

Angela Moorad, MS, CCC-SLP, IAYT, RCYP-2

Speech-Language Pathologist

Founder of OMazing Kids, LLC – inclusive wellness activities for kids of all abilities

Radiant Child Yoga Certified – Levels 1 & 2

E-Mail: amoorad1@juno.com