YOU & ME Yoga with Autistic Children

This report is by Lynn Bhania who was Deputy Head at Radlett Lodge School. It is backed up by an accompanying video showing Lynn teaching yoga to a small group of children after school.

Autism is a very complex condition which can manifest itself in many different ways, but all children with autism exhibit the same three impairments -a) they lack empathy with othersb) they have severe communication problemsc) they show ritualistic and obsessive behaviours and suffer from anxieties and fears.

I worked with autistic children at Radlett Lodge School, Hertfordshire for four years.  Children with autism need lots of gestures, signs and pictures to help them understand the spoken word, especially in situations where they are asked to interact with each other in a socially acceptable way, and they often learn by copying.  They also need a predictable and structured routine where activities have a definite beginning and end, in order to allay their anxieties.  I feel that the YOU & ME system provides all these.

When I first heard about it I was impressed by the way it encouraged people to work together as a group in a calm and controlled atmosphere.  Dealing as I do with children who are full of anxieties and often switched off from the rest of the world, it seemed to me that this might be a way of working which would increase their awareness of others and give them some purposeful control of their bodies.

I decided it would be best to arrange a session in our residential unit after school time.  This gave the added advantages of providing more comfortable surroundings and allowing me to work with a much wider range of ages and abilities.  Initially I worked with a group of four children for several weeks and extended the group to include any who chose to join in.  If numbers exceed I have the help of a residential social worker as well.

The children are aged from twelve to fourteen and vary in ability.  One has speech, but his understanding is quite limited; two can repeat words but have little spontaneous speech; and one boy communicates by signing.  All have problems with comprehending the spoken word and find it difficult to concentrate for long periods, but they can copy body movements accurately, and they enjoy physical activity.

I worked gradually towards a full set of movements by first choosing the movements with names that would be familiar and recognisable to the children.  I brought along photographs, and two of the children drew pictures themselves so that we could link them to the movements.  I also made sure they could link the sounds we made when breathing out to our photographs and drawings.  We use pictures, gestures and signs in all our communication work, to give them as many clues as possible towards understanding the spoken word.  

I chose Dog, Cat, Crocodile, Cobra, Palm Tree and Chopper for our first movement programme, as these were easy to link with pictures and were good for choosing noises that they could make.  We chose noises that were appropriate, e.g. woof for Dog or meow for Cat, and personalised them by using the names of the children’s own pets, e.g. ‘Jasper’ for the Dog and ‘Candy’ for the Cat.

Each session begins with a simple greeting to each member to build up the concept that we are a group.  We then do a group-breathing activity which brings them together physically by holding hands.  We raise our arms to breathe in, and lower them slowly saying the word ‘Yoga’!  This allows us all to regulate our breathing to the others in the group, and signals when it is time to make a change for the next stage of movement.   Once they have begun to breathe together and have gained control and calmed down, we begin to work through the movements.

I first show a picture card of the movements we are going to do and remind them of the sounds to make.  We then work through each movement six times, linking each one to the pictures that provide a structure and order to our sessions. Hence they can work through a set of pictures and perform tasks independently and in the correct order without any verbal prompting from me. We can also alter a picture or change the order without increasing their anxiety, because they can see what is coming next and so can relax and perform well.
  

After six repeats of each movement we repeat our group-breathing using the word ‘finished’, as we breathe out.  This signals the end of the session and is often followed by a short period of relaxation during which the children sit or lie down quietly while some relaxing music is played softly.

Finally we say ‘goodbye’ and ‘thank you’ to each other before we break up.

These children usually find it hard to watch each other while working as a group.  The breathing and the Postures encourage them to do this and to time their responses so that we all make our sounds together.  Most of the children make strange and inappropriate noises, particularly those with speech problems who have difficulty in controlling the pitch and volume of their speech - not to mention choosing appropriate subjects to talk about.  For these children to make a sound like ‘woof’ when asked is a big enough achievement;  to time it to fit in with a sequence of Whole-Body-Movement and keep in time with the others in the group is a real step forward for them.  Lack of motivation to do any form of physical exercise, despite the fact that they have no physical disabilities and are mostly robust and healthy-looking, makes autistic children generally very unfit.  They are lethargic, and their Posture and general muscle tone is poor.  Yoga gives them regular exercise in a controlled stress-free environment, and helps to improve their Posture and muscle tone, as well as giving them control over their breathing, which in turn helps blood circulation and lung function.

The children enjoy it because they smile and laugh.  They sustain concentration for longer periods than normal, and do not wander off or become disruptive.  They watch each other and try to work together, as well as making appropriate sounds when asked. They seem better able to coordinate their bodies when performing the movements, and feel secure in the structure imposed by the YOU & ME Yoga Cards, pictures and familiar routines.  Obsessional and ritualistic behaviours are reduced during the session, and a general sense of calmness and control seems to prevail.

Video showing Lynn Bhania teaching this yoga group.

Extracts from the YOU & ME Yoga Modular Programme:

• Introduction to YOU & ME Yoga - video
• Learning Difficulties and Associated Conditions with Yoga Case Studies
• YOU & ME Yoga Postures and Variations for Special Needs

Yoga for Children with Special Needs

A recent statutory job I had was piloting teaching YOU & ME Yoga within the Occupational Therapy department for children and young people of a Central London hospital.  With 22 cases inc. babies, toddlers, children and teenagers diagnosed with:

severe learning and physical disabilities, PMLD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, developmental coordination disorder (dyspraxia)

presenting poor: mobility, coordination, core stability, attention span, concentration and difficulty with organisation, and clumsiness, etc.

Project scheme:

The Team Lead invited parents/carers within the catchment area to bring their children to the yoga project. Involving an initial one-to-one meeting with the Yoga Therapist (me) to establish a suitable individualised yoga plan for each child. With the option to attend a short course in a group with other children to motivate learning and on going yoga practice together. Or if unable to attend the group meetings after the individual assessment session, it would be possible to continue practice at home with their individualised yoga plan.

Procedure

Initial Consultation and Assessment:

A health questionnaire was completed by the client’s parent/guardian before our one-to-one session. To establish the child’s condition, character, communication, physical abilities and any health needs.

The parent, therapist or carer was expected to accompany the client. We discussed the individual client’s medical and health condition, and the main problem areas and goals were established and agreed. 

Then I assessed the client’s joint range and ability for practising yoga. A lesson plan is always planned in conjunction with the YOU & ME Whole-Body-Movement recording system that provides - at a glance - the condition, limitations and abilities of the client. From which the most suitable and safe techniques can be selected for that clients’ yoga lesson plan, for reference and on-going practice.

Group Yoga Sessions

Eighteen children continued attending the weekly group yoga sessions, that were arranged into A, B, C, i.e. equivalent to mild, moderate, severe disabilities. The remaining children and parents had a few more one-to-one sessions with me to reinforce the yoga plan instructions for their home practice together.

It was possible to hold group classes incorporating these clients’ individual yoga plans. Simply because with YOU & ME Yoga we include a technique for all the seven different areas of the whole body, i.e. the legs, hips, waist, chest, arms, alternate sides, upper and lower body. Hence, in class we can work all together on the same body part including each client’s particular technique.

A sample Yoga Plan for Student 1 case-study:
Main Problems:

Severe athetoid quadriplegia; Stiffness of limbs; core stability weakness; neck extensor spasm.

Goals:

To help free stiffness in body with practice of whole-body-movement sequence

Strengthen core stability with suitable techniques

Tune into the diaphragm to articulate lungs and tone abdomen

Establish suitable sitting and or holding techniques for mum and baby

Assist child to relax, using massage and relaxation techniques.

Conclusion

The originally planned short course of group sessions extended beyond one term to nine months of three weekly classes for the eighteen students.  The staff, parents and children seemed to enjoy and appreciate the sessions. The audit forms I kept with the outcomes of each session show how many of the set goals were addressed and helped reduce the problems of most of the children. Involving improved: body awareness, coordination, mobility, flexibility, strength, core stability, sensory awareness, self-confidence, adaptive behaviour, communication and confidence. Some parents even joined a yoga class for themselves, and most have since reported how much they enjoy practising yoga at home with their special child!

Yoga and Special Education in India

I am deeply grateful to the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust that gave me a unique opportunity to gain knowledge and insights into yoga for disabled people in India. I travelled over 6,000 miles in seven Indian states where I meet and learned from some of the renown yoga masters and eminent educationalists.

The highlight of my Fellowship was meeting Education Psychologist, Dr P. Jeyachandran, Director of Special Education in Tamil Nadu. 

We met at Vijay Human Services, a small school for special children in Madras (now Chennai). He greeted me with pleased surprise, because we had just learnt that we had both introduced yoga to people with severe learning difficulties around the same time, even though we were at opposite ends of the earth. His book ‘Teaching Yogasana to the Mentally Retarded’ (pub. 1983) showed me that we used the same yogasanas (yoga postures) with breath and relaxation. 

He told me about the facilities at his training centres, as the Director of Balar Vihar Special Education programmes for teacher training special educators, the children in special schools, and the parents of special children in day care.

My visit was such good timing because in January 1985 Yoga was just being implemented into the National Curriculum of Special Education, under the auspice of Dr Jeychandrans’ pilot programme, with approval from the Department of Education. (Details of this ‘Report on the pilot yoga study programme’ can be found at the end of this article.)

Six years previously in 1978, Dr Jeyachandran had initiated yogasanas (yoga postures) training for his special educators to teach small groups of special children as an experiment at Vijay Human Services. Two other educational psychologists assisted him managing this project in collaboration with the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram, a yoga therapeutic centre registered with the Health Ministry.

The following three videos show interviews with these three psychologists: Dr Jeyachandran, Ms Vimla and Ms Lata in their respective training centres, along with demonstrations of the special educators’ and childrens’ yoga training sessions.

Note: At the time of my visit in January 1985 and up to quite recently, people with learning difficulties / intellectual disabilities were termed ‘mentally retarded’. In this report I will use the terms special child and children with learning difficulties, however mentally retarded is mentioned in the accompanying videos. Please allow 20 minutes for viewing these videos below, showing the unique yoga teacher-training programme, yoga being taught to groups in a special school, and the children’s pilot yoga class.

Bala Vihar Teacher Training Centre

Here I was invited to attend the teachers’ yoga training class. Both Dr P Jeyachandran and the Principal Ms V. Vimla greeted me warmly and escorted me into the long hall. Where four male teacher trainees were standing, and on the other side of a wall-divider about twenty female teacher trainees were, all waiting to start their weekly yoga class. The two groups inhaled during the expanding movements - which opened out their lungs - and exhaled to the sound of ‘ha’. I was very impressed with the beautiful atmosphere and unison of the groups.

Dr Jeyachandran said, “Our special children do not all understand the teachers’ instructions to breathe out, so what we now do is instruct then to make a sound as they breathe out. This has been the greatest innovation in the yoga programme, because the key to success in yoga with disabled students is the breathing, which is a means of controlling the vital life force. Also using sound ensures that all students are breathing out together, which helps them to perform in time with each other while at the same time it helps to govern the pace of the groups’ practice. If a student gasps for breath, this would indicate fatigue, and he should be stopped immediately and told to rest. “

Every week for one-hour the teacher trainees were taught the next lesson on yoga. Their yoga teacher showed then illustrations of the sequence to practice, and at the end of the session they had to copy these into their exercise books. So they could continue practice on their own each day, and gain experience to teach the same yogasanas to the children the following week.

At the end, some of the trainees told me of their personal benefits gained from the yoga practice such as: overcoming emotional problems with yoga breathing and relaxation; relief from severe back-ache caused by spondylitis; increased flexibility in hips; improved breathing and relief from chest infection; sense of enjoyment from the practice; and one man said he had considerable relief from various pains since practising yoga.

I was thrilled by their enthusiasm and thanked them for allowing us to video their yoga training.

Dr Jeyachandran further arranged for me to visit two special schools to see the effect the yoga training was having on the children.

Balar Kulvi Nilayam, Opportunity Section

 Ms Vimla the visiting psychologist introduced me to this opportunity section, and to Ms Sithar one of the special educators qualified to teach yoga here. Everyday for the past eighteen months she had taught yoga to children from the senior class, along with her junior class together.

I was amazed to see during the session one of the girls faced the other children and started to instruct them to do Parsva Uttanasana (Crane) a rather difficult standing posture. She was able to articulate the instructions in time with the breathing, and the others all kept in time with her as they practised 6 times on each side.

Most of the children had learnt to coordinate instruction with movement, and the remaining few who could not follow instructions were able to imitate the others. Therefore the yoga was helping the children in their concentration.

Ms Sithar was very pleased with the daily yoga programme, and said she was also giving the same course to the parents. So they could continue the practice with their children at home, including the school holidays, and that this made the yoga much more effective!

Vijay Human Services

I was welcomed by Ms Lata the Principal of the school which consisted of two small classrooms and an office, where thirteen children attended for 5½ days a week. I learnt that the children spent the first half of the day using Western educational behaviour modification to teach them basic learning skills. Then shortly before lunch the programme switched to the ancient educational system of yoga that included practising yogasanas, chanting and listening to some mantra sounds, and dancing the Bharat Natyam. I attended several yoga sessions and each time made more interesting discoveries in the realm of yoga.

The yoga teachers’ programme

On Saturday mornings a yoga teacher from the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram teaches the children in an hours’ group yoga class. Two of the children’s teachers assist her, who subsequently teach the same yoga sequence before lunch during the following week.  A Yoga teacher also attends the school one weekday between 3pm to 7pm to give individual 45-minute lessons to children who cannot yet join in the group sessions. A parent or carer accompanies the child so as to encourage practise at home.

About this yoga video

Ms Lata obtained the parents’ permission for us to film their children’s yoga classes. She directed us to the end classroom where five rush mats were arranged on t he floor and five boys were eager to start their practice. Their special educator, Mr V. Rajemdran held in his hand his exercise book containing stickmen drawings of this week’s yoga sequence, and conveyed the instructions in Tamil. Meanwhile Ms Lata explained briefly how the school functions and commented favourably on the children’s yoga progress. Three of the boys had been practising yoga regularly for the past four years. The other two had started one year previously, and they had some yoga tuition from the yoga teacher to catch up with the others.

Two of this group, Joseph and Raju case studies were presented at the Indian Academy of Yoga in Bangalore, which are given at the end of this article.

The staff, parents and inter-disciplinary team working with these children felt that Yoga had provided a means of reaching many of them, and hoped that further studies in this field, and feedback from workers continuing to provide yoga to these type of children, would result in improved methods and continuing success.

Report on the pilot Yoga Study Programme

Downs syndrome yoga case-study

John’s YOU & ME Yoga 

Case Study by Daniel Mold

Background

John who has Downs syndrome, age 23, has attended for three years at Orchard Hill College of FE, Carshalton, Surrey.  It was determined that it would be useful for John to engage in some physical activity to use and maintain his physical abilities and to help with weight control.  Thus two years ago John began the YOU & ME Yoga programme.  John showed little interest in sport, or adapted sport activities, but was interested in walking, obstacle courses and mat exercises.

Ability

John can move quite quickly although he likes to engage in tasks at a slower, more careful pace.  He usually chooses not to use his verbal language skills and as a result of this it is hard for staff at the College to identify problems when John is frustrated or unhappy.  It was thought that yoga might provide a way for John to express himself.

Progress

John was keen to participate in the yoga group from the very beginning.  The group is small and each session lasts for thirty minutes.  After watching a demonstration he copies the Postures quite easily.  John chooses the Postures he wants to carry out by pointing to the printed cards.

John has practised YOU & ME Yoga at least twice a week over the last two years and can now complete most of the Postures independently.  The yoga session begins by sitting crossed legged on a mat and John will do this without needing to be asked.  He has gained the confidence to use his voice during yoga sessions - he knows the names of the Looseners and Postures and occasionally says which ones he would like to try.

John’s general confidence has grown.  He will demonstrate movements to others in the yoga group, something that he was reluctant to do in the early stages.  Also, yoga has been a means of new staff developing a trusting relationship with him.

When John does the Cat Posture, he imitates the action of a cat licking a dish when his head is down.  This initiation of communication through mime has led to John beginning a drama course, which he also thoroughly enjoys.

Here is a video showing different students in different parts of the UK performing the Cat Posture in their very special way.

References:

Learning Difficulties and Associated Conditions Explained with YOGA CASE STUDIES

ISBN-13: 978-1904117025 

YOU & ME Yoga Postures - DVD-video

ASIN-13: 978-1904117155

http://www.youandmeyoga.com/modules/

http://www.youandmeyoga.com/store/ 

Cerebral palsy yoga case-study

YOU & ME Yoga trainers' coursework now involves doing three case-studies. To demonstrate the trainer's competence teaching the system to students with varying abilities. They must provide visual and written evidence of their carefully selected yoga programmes to safely accommodate each individual's particular needs and abilities, along with records of practice, achievement and evaluation.

Here Pat Pickering, a YOU & ME Yoga practitioner talks about her yoga training with a very special client called Jane, which is followed by her case-study.

Jane is twenty-six years old, has athetoid cerebral palsy and is quite intelligent.  Most of the time she uses a wheelchair, but she enjoys the opportunity to sit in a normal chair.  She is capable of sitting unaided.  Her athetoid movements sometimes make purposeful movements difficult, but her personality is such that any frustrations are so slight as to be practically negligible.

Jane always indicates when she wants to use the toilet, but requires assistance to get in and out of her wheelchair and to adjust her clothing.  She finger-feeds when eating sandwiches, but needs to be fed with a spoon when having a hot meal.  She drinks independently but needs to use a two-handled cup with a spout.

Jane uses the Hydrotherapy pool and enjoys it, but this is only possible once a week. She is an active member of the Makaton sign language group, and is encouraged to use speech as much as possible when signing.  Her vocabulary is limited and is sometimes difficult to understand.  Although she understands most of what is said to her, it is wise to keep language simple when addressing her. She is a very enthusiastic, happy and lively young lady. 

During the first few weeks of introducing Jane to the idea of yoga we asked her how she felt about life in a wheelchair, and from this we were able to prioritize her future course of action.  She told us she would like to sit up straighter and hold her head up.  She has the typical extensor thrust of chin, and said she suffers from a lot of neck ache.  She also told us that she hoped to gain more control of her arm movements, by gaining more strength in her arms and hands to assist with eating, drinking and using her Makaton signing.  She said that toileting was a problem, because it was uncomfortable to be handled so much by various staff assistants, and she wants to work towards being able to pull herself up from her chair to go to the toilet without help. 

So together we looked through the YOU & ME Instruction Pack of the Postures. As Jane could understand the seven different coloured parts of the body, in relation to selecting one Posture card in each of the seven different colours, it was possible for her to contribute to selecting and arranging her own yoga programme plan.

Click here for rationale to Jane's full yoga programme 

Outcome 

Jane made very good progress.  She is always telling people what she can do, and they are keenly interested in her progress.  Apart from progress with her YOU & ME Yoga, there has been evidence of progress with other members of staff in other learning areas.  Jane is participating more actively and confidently in the swimming-pool.  Her sitting position in her chair is more upright.  Her biggest accomplishment is pulling herself from her wheelchair onto the toilet, and back again without needing to be lifted and handled at all, only her clothing needing adjustment.  She is very pleased about this, and also about having starred in her own video, which was great fun for her especially when it was shown at home and all the family watched her on ‘telly’.

Jane’s Breathing and Relaxation

Jane found breathing very difficult when we started the practice. The first few sessions were spent discussing and practicing breathing with use of the diaphragm. It was important that Jane could see the tummy movements on the in- and out-breath. When lying down she couldn’t see this herself, so I lay down beside her with a book on my tummy so that she could see that the book was moving up and down as we breathed together.  

After some time, she was sometimes able to control and slow down her breathing. I demonstrated this process further by showing her the ‘diaphragm apparatus’ and helped her to see what happens to the lungs in relation to the diaphragm while breathing.  These breathing practices have been helpful with her Postures, because previously she would perform the Postures too quickly and with a jolt at times.  And use of the ‘ahhhh’ when breathing out helped her to control her movements at a slower pace.

After Jane completes her yoga sequence of seven Postures she spends ten minutes relaxing her whole body.  This is a very important part of her programme, as she needs to relax and breathe easily.  This in itself wasn’t easy for her, but the video filmed at our Centre showed how she learned to relax and breathe much better. 

Pat Pickering, Day Service Officer, YOU & ME Practitioner

References:

Learning Difficulties and Associated Conditions Explained with YOGA CASE STUDIES

ISBN-13: 978-1904117025 

http://www.youandmeyoga.com/resources/Modules/LD-samples-A4.pdf

YOU & ME Relaxation Techniques for Special Needs

ISBN-13: 978-1904117162 

http://www.youandmeyoga.com/resources/Modules/RELAXATION-samples.pdf

YOU & ME Breathing Techniques for Special Needs

ISBN-13: 978-1904117193

http://www.youandmeyoga.com/resources/Modules/BREATHING-sample.pdf

Introduction to YOU & ME Yoga DVD  

ASIN: 1904117139

Colour-Code Instruction Pack of the Postures

ISBN-13: 978-1904117056

http://www.youandmeyoga.com/modules/

How to help the Voice and Throat

Useful techniques to help the voice and throat:

1. Warm-ups:  

lip trill

sss - zzz, sh – ggg, fff – vvv, mmm – nnn

mmm-ar-mmm, mmm-ee-mmm, mmm-igh-mmm, mmm-or-mmm, 
mmm-air-mmm, mmm-er-mmm, mmm-oo-mmm

hum, humming up and down, humming,
singing a song/nursery rhyme

counting, read out loud.

2. Make vocal yawning, sighing, whimpering

3. Steaming - Use a cup full of boiling water and breathe in steam for few minutes. Helps to lubricate throat. 
Note: Do not cover head in the boiling steam.

4. Breathing in with quick diaphragmatic (tummy) breathes.

5. Posture – Do not work at computer for more than 50 minutes, then take a break. Frequently look out the window

6. Relaxation – Make sure do something everyday to help with relaxation.

7. Emotions – Try to be objective with emotions.

8. Drink plenty of water.

9. Do Not: shout, whisper, strain or clear throat.

10. Swallow instead of clearing throat.

Have you ever suffered from problems with your voice? What helped you?  Please comment on your ideas and experiences below.

Speech Cord Granuloma

My speech cord granuloma condition was caused by shouting above a noisy integrated group of young students with their therapists/carers/parents. I honored teaching this YOU & ME Yoga course for this group of 20, when really I should have been tucked up in bed at home getting over such flu condition.

(In point of fact when suffering from flu virus we should never do any bending forward movements, as muscles tense which could damage the back.)

Here are a few lessons I learned:

1. I need to listen to my body’s warning signals to prevent potential serious consequences. 
2. If I don’t look after myself, I cannot expect anyone else to. 
3. Ignoring my cough, sore throat, struggling to speak and forcing my voice unnaturally was absolutely stupid. 
4. It is wrong to spread germs. 

As a result, I was left with a chronic speech problem and thought I would never be able to teach again.

Within a few weeks I was diagnosed with speech cord granuloma and threatened with an operation to remove the granules with prospect of only 37% success rate.

So what next?

First, I was informed by the NHS consultant there was a 4-month waiting list. So I asked him about going private and he replied he could fit me in the following Tuesday, which I was duly booked in for. Then I remembered what I preach to others about being positive towards ones own health and doing yoga to help combat disease. So I chose to make further enquiries and received the following advice:

• My doctor recommended Speech Therapy, which I attended for 6 weekly sessions to help prevent straining my voice.*

• The oesteopath/cranialogist/healer Charles Tisdale of Dacrelands Clinic, Lancaster, where I had my office, told me to cancel the operation. To have instead weekly treatments of cranial sacral therapy and acupuncture, as well as homeopathy remedies, all of which I benefitted from.

• I contacted Swami Pragumurti of Satyananda Yoga Centre, London who told me to energise my throat by daily chanting the ‘OM’, the sound ‘Eee’, humming the sound ‘Mm’ and to do the Alternate Nostril Breathing which I enjoyed and benefitted from doing.

My Yoga Therapy:

In addition to chanting and practicing Alternate Nostril Breathing for 10 minutes everyday, I also practiced my yoga system involving a sequence of Whole-Body-Movements and Yoga Nidra (deep relaxation) for a further 20 minutes. This was my second time round of intense yoga therapy - with conviction - for a ‘new chance and lease of life’ since my serious car accident some 30 years before.

Five months into my therapy, I wanted to know if my prospects of teaching again had changed. As I was feeling much less tensed when speaking and somewhat empowered by looking after myself with all the alternative treatments and yoga practice. So I went to see a private ENT (Ear, Nose, Throat) surgeon for a second opinion, who actually diagnosed no trace of any granuloma on my speech cords whatsoever. The consultant, like me, thought there being ‘no trace’ was remarkable. I did of course tell him of the alternative therapies I’d had and about my yoga practice. He responded by saying, “Your throat had healed because you had allowed it to be well.” Seemingly yet another lesson: to desire health and allow it to be so!

* Next post to follow: Techniques to help the Voice and Throat

Physical Therapy

YOU & ME Yoga for People with Learning Disabilities

The YOU and ME Yoga system can make a real difference to people's lives, according to a new book on the treatment and management of learning disabilities.

Learning disabilities Physical Therapy Treatment and Management – A collaborative approach, Edited by Jeanette Rennie (pub Wiley, ISBN: 978-0-470-01989-4) includes a chapter on Complementary Therapies with a section on YOU and ME Yoga system, with case studies involving a person with Down's syndrome, autism and the case study below of a young woman with cerebral palsy.

The extracts below are taken from the book:
The YOU and ME Yoga for people with learning disabilities (Gunstone 1988) has been designed for individual needs to improve quality of life by:

• coordinating the activities of mind and body
• reducing the distracted state of mind
• focusing the mind on the present
• developing the adaptive behaviour
• enhancing social behaviour
• increasing self reliance
• improving general health (Desikachar and Jeyachandran 1983 and 1988)

It is also used to increase students’ mobility, physical dexterity, coordination, communication, sensory awareness and self-confidence.

Programmes

Programmes are planned in conjunction with the YOU and ME record keeping system, which enables the therapist(s) to see at a glance the condition, limitations and abilities of the student(s). A general health questionnaire is used as appropriate.

The recording charts are used for students’ health, safety and welfare and for keeping a record of practice, outcomes and progress. The colour coding of both the body and the related techniques makes record keeping easy enough for most students to complete their own practice record, and indicate their feelings by ticking the column beneath the most appropriate face (for example, smiling or frowning).

This Yoga programme consists of 22 exercises called ‘joint looseners’ and 20 postures.

CASE STUDY 6: WOMAN WHO HAS CEREBRAL PALSY

Click for full-size image

She is 26 years old and has athetoid cerebral palsy (see Chapter 2). Initially she found it very difficult to control her involuntary movements.

The YOU and ME teaching pack explains everything very clearly with health and safety in mind. Thus trainers are enabled to select a suitable plan for people with or even without a learning disability. The colour-coded instruction pack for the postures was essential to give instructions for working out her programme plan of whole-body movement. Her programme was based on the green chest area for her main posture. It followed a similar warming-up, main posture and winding-down procedure to Table 17.5. Hence her programme benefited the whole of her body.

Progress

• She can consciously relax completely during the relaxation period, keeping her whole body perfectly still.
• There has been evidence of progress with other members of staff in other learning areas. She is more active and confi dent participation in the swimming pool; her upright sitting position in her own chair has improved; she has progressed to independent transfers from her wheelchair onto the toilet and back again although assistance to adjust her clothing is still required. She has an obvious feeling of achievement and improved dignity.

Whole-body movement is great fun, as well as motivation for learning. Everyone can join in, and anyone can perform the postures regardless of age or ability. Students develop imagination, expression and relationships.