A common thing I hear when sharing things that work well for
kids on the autism spectrum is "well any kid would benefit from
that". Yup that is right. That is why so many things are considered a "universal
support". When it's done for
everyone then no one is singled out and everyone gets to benefit! It just
requires a little thinking outside the box.
Something that Sam has identified this year in school is
when his legs have so much energy they just need to move. The teacher has concluded he is not trying to
avoid work and he knows what he needs.
He will say he just needs to walk to the end of the hall and back. His OT thinks it's great he is identifying
his own needs.
Today I was reminded of a silly song yet effective, that was
used when I was in grade school. I
remember many mornings in class doing "Go Chicken Fat Go", a 6 minute
exercise song. I think of times when the
teacher would need to fill a short period of time and give a choice of reading
a book, listening to a song or playing a game.
I have memories of kids saying CHICKEN FAT! So we'd do the exercise song once again.
I was reminded of this silly song and childhood routine as I
read an interesting article this morning on the positive effects of Yoga and
Autism. (READ HERE) This article discussed the benefit
of a 17 min yoga regimen to start off the school day. After reading it, sharing it with Sam's OT
and learning she had just read the same article this morning I began to
wonder. Wouldn't this be beneficial for
ALL children!
I wish I could snap my fingers and have research data complete
and at my fingertips. I'd love to know if a child's day would be more
productive, more focused and have less issues or interruptions, if every child
had a 17 min yoga workout as part of the school routine. GASP I'm sure some would think WHAT take
learning time away! But I do find it some
interesting food for thought today.
I guess for now maybe his new routine will include a home yoga routine just before heading off to school. Now to find a resource for that. He has a kids yoga mat with visuals on it that he got for Christmas last year. We are half way there.
