Special Needs Yoga

I teach yoga in a special education classroom at a local elementary school once a week. I found this article helpful and insightful.


Classroom Yoga Helps Improve Behavior Of Kids With Autism

by ELIZA BARCLAY

Some highlights from the article:

• "Researchers have found that kids with autism spectrum disorder who did yoga at their elementary school behaved better than kids with autism who weren't doing yoga.

• Yoga was effective because it seems to play to the strengths of kids with autism, while also reducing stress. 

• We know that anxiety fuels a lot of the negative behavior, so the yoga program gives them a strategy to cope with it.  And if it's done every morning, it becomes an integral part of the day that sets the status of the classroom and allows the kids to become calm, focused and ready to learn.

• According to the researchers, yoga is increasingly being used in classrooms across the U.S. to get kids to behave and perform better in school.  Early research suggests that yoga exercises help kids concentrate and focus, and improves their strength, motor coordination and social skills.

• Teachers said that the special education kids doing yoga exhibited significantly fewer problematic behaviors overall."

To read the full article, go here.