Yoga for the Profoundly Disabled Child - Part 2

Photo: walesonline.co.uk

Today's post is "Part 2" of Yoga for the Profoundly Disabled Child.

In part 1, I talked about letting go of any pre-conceived ideas of how yoga should be practiced or how it should look. As teachers, therapists and educators, we need to be willing to be flexible enough to forget our lesson plan and meet that student exactly where they are right now.

 (If you missed it, you can read Part 1 here.)

Here are the 4 basic steps that I use to determine how I might introduce yoga based techniques to a child who is considered 'low functioning" and who has a number of profound challenges:

Set aside fears & ideas of how it "should" be:
We all want to assist students to be more independent. We want to give people answers, relieve pain, educate people about the body and more. We want to have a positive effect on the people we meet and work with and feel like we are making a difference. Sometimes we have to get innovative to achieve this. Yoga is no different, so be bold and set aside the way you have been doing things, and your fear of doing something 'wrong". Its okay to change it, adapt it and make it accessible to your student. If you don't know how to do that, ask for input from a yoga teacher, therapist or someone else who has that knowledge. Educators, yoga teachers, paraprofessionals, OTs PTs SLPs, parents and families-we are all on the same side and should be working together. So breathe, calm the voices in your head and proceed with confidence that you will discover how to do the very best for your student.

Observe student interacting with peers or family and pick one or two goals to address:
Its better to select one (or two if they are able) goals to work on at a time. Overwhelming the student or yourself is not effective in the long run. You will have to cultivate patience. Ask yourself what the child's skills are and what are the most immediate needs. Sometimes you may have to look deeper and see the less obvious-maybe they cannot hold a pencil, but can they feel sensations on their skin? They can't move their lower body, but can they move their  upper? They can't move well at all but can they visually track?  Is their hearing and receptive language workable? Can they sign? Do they like music? If so what kind of music? What characters/toys do they like? How can you make this fun? Take all of these factors into consideration and write them down. Make it personal to them. Start with observing the most basic, primitive part of how that child learns and grows which is through the sensory system. The senses hold the key to building back up to body movements, cognitive understanding & social interaction. These skills do not have to be perfect, just visible. Every child can do something-no matter how seemingly insignificant, so start there. Look for what he can do. Keep looking until you find it.

Assess how to adapt and customize traditional (yoga) approaches for that student:
Assess what skills and abilities you have to work with & what you want to teach the student. Balance? Core Strength? Or maybe you need to start with more basic tactile or visual exercises. If you are working on postures & the student cannot stand, then change the postures and therapies so they can do it while seated. You can start in their wheelchair, then gradually build to a regular chair then maybe build to a therapy ball. Support them using your hands or bolsters & props until they are able to do the activities independently. (Remember that a child's "independent" might look very different than how your "independent" looks.)  Start slowly- 10-15 minutes at a time. Work up to 30-40 minutes. Break each step down & add new steps gradually to build up to more challenging games & tasks.

Assess effectiveness and make adjustments:
Ideally the activities you select should be fun & challenging yet not frustrating to the student. You have to ask yourself each time: "Is this too challenging or not enough? Is it working? How do I know its working?" Give it time & observe how the child reacts and responds to determine whether or not he is engaged and motivated to continue to work towards a goal. If not, you may need to make adjustments, either in the goal or in the steps you are using to reach the goal. You may have to observe things that you have never noticed before: breathing, (through movement of the chest), visual attention & pleasure (through *pupil dilation), skin pallor, vocalization, etc. and becoming a good observer will help you better determine if what you are doing should be continued or changed.


I mentioned above starting with the sensory system and I want to elaborate a bit on that. At our most basic core, we are sensory creatures. When we are born, we cannot do much in the way of thinking, moving or communicating. However, our sensory systems are at work constantly. The senses are the only way our nervous system receives information about our environment; the only way in which we become motivated to move & explore our world; the only way we learn about pleasure and danger; and the only way our brains and bodies continue to develop and grow. Its the same for disabled children regardless of the degree of functioning. There is still a sensory system at work, looking for stimulus. The more the senses are stimulated, the more neural pathways are formed in the brain and the more the brain/body learns. You cannot separate these 3 aspects- they rely heavily on each other as a complete system.

When designing a yoga program for children with disabilities, focus on what is practical and what is responsible. We cannot teach a child to talk, walk or stand in tree pose if the child's sensory system is overloaded, under stimulated or not integrated with the brain and the body. The sensory systems must be addressed first, then body movements, then cognitive learning, then (evolved) social skill learning. (This is basic neuroscience.) A huge mistake we make in recreation, education and therapy approaches is to not address the most basic neurological needs first, before we attempt to address those higher functions such as cognitive or social skills. When we skip over those more basic steps, it causes failure, de-motivation, undesired and even aggressive behaviors, and sometimes severely restrictive practices or unnecessary medication plans to be put in place. If you are thinking of introducing yoga, by all means, do so, remembering to keep this process and progression of skills in mind as well. Always meet the students where they are.

Yoga is one of the most complete sensory-motor activities we can utilize to work with children. It enhances all other therapeutic and educational approaches. It is possible to stimulate and integrate every sense in the body during a short 20-30 minute yoga session. (Read more about yoga and sensory stimulation here.) If a child has lower functioning skills and you cannot teach postures yet, then start with activities that will stimulate and integrate the senses.

(Please check with the student's parents, teachers and medical or therapy team to determine what sensory needs and challenges you should be aware of.)

Examples: (Adapt & change to meet & slightly challenge the child's abilities)

• Meditative instrumental music paired with visual tracking of a scarf, a feather or a flashlight beam projected onto the wall or ceiling: Move the scarf or flashlight to the rhythm of the music. Use a slightly up-beat rhythm to stimulate, slower rhythm to calm. Select something the child likes and watch for *pupil dilation to see if the child is enjoying. If they are able, allow them to move the flashlight or scarf. Have them alternate hands. This is one way to introduce meditation techniques. (Native American flute and drumming work well.)
• Pairing breathing with singing simple songs or mantras (words) : "Ommmmmm", " Peace", "Breathe" or any of the vowel sounds, is not only soothing, (sound and vibration in the body) but improves auditory processing, and breath control. Breathing is key to releasing muscle and mind tension and to begin a relaxation response. The longer the tone, the deeper the child has to inhale. The deeper they inhale, the more effective the breathing will be. (Deva Premal's Music works well. ) You can then teach them other breathing techniques using games. (More ideas using cotton balls on our You Tube Channel.)
• Pair a finger labyrinth with calming, instrumental music. Or have the child close their eyes and follow by sense of touch only. If the child cannot point a finger to use it, then guide them with your own hand over theirs. (Click here for printable labyrinths to start with). Glue the printable patterns to card stock, cover the dark lines with yarn, sand or plain glue and see if your student can trace the (smooth) path with eyes closed. (Allow student to glue and add yarn or sand if they are able.) A labyrinth has one path in and out. Its a great tool for teaching concentration and relaxation as well as tactile and visual stimulation.
• Other options include: aromatherapy techniques, mudra (hand yoga) & massage . When you are ready to start teaching postures, begin with restorative postures and work up from there to seated, standing, core, balance, etc.
• Above all, always make it fun!

There are hundreds of other usable ideas in this blog and on our website. As you come across ideas, start to think about how yoga can be broken down into its simplest form to address the needs of your students who may be seen as "unteachable", and those who may need the benefits of yoga the most.

If you have a specific question that this 2 part article did not address, or if you would like to schedule a workshop for your school, therapy center or organization, please contact me at: barbara@bodylogique.com


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*(Our pupils will dilate when the room gets darker to allow more light in, as well as when we take certain medications, but in the absence of these factors, generally speaking, when we’re experiencing pleasure, be it physical or psychological, such as seeing someone or doing something we like, our pupils will grow larger).



Other Resources:

Yoga for the Special Child  (Sonia Sumar)

Adaptive Yoga Curriculum Books  (bodylogique.com)

About the Sensory System (Science Daily)

What a Child's Food Cravings Can Tell You