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Inclusive Practice

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Your aim is to be inclusive, providing an environment where all children are welcomed. Some children may need extra support and for some there may be specific ways yoga can help and should be focused on for the maximum benefit for the child.

The most common additional needs seen in schools in the UK in January 2018 were Autism Spectrum Disorder (28.2% of those with a statement or Education Health Care Plan) and Moderate Learning Difficulty (MLD) (24% of those on SEN support).

Autism 

Autism is covered in much more detail in our Autism Friendly training, where you are given the knowledge and physical tools to teach classes specifically for those with autism. But broadly it is a life long developmental disorder and importantly Autism is a spectrum and has wide variation including behaviours displayed. It is important to put these behaviours in the context of autism to help to understand them and support the individual, especially if these are ‘difficult’ behaviours. A person centred approach is vital. Therefore when you have young people with autism in your classes, speak to the teacher and any other support they have about how best to supprt them. Please remember without doing the Autism Friendly training you are not able to offer classes specific to those with Autism.

Moderate Learning Difficulties (MLD)

Generally children with MLD will have some or all of:

•             Difficulty understanding basic concepts.

  • •             Problems acquiring basic skills in reading, writing and numeracy with a resultant lack of confidence to use and develop the skills they do have.
  • •             A lack of logic.
  • •             Poor problem solving skills.
  • •             An inability to generalise learning and apply it to new situations.
  • •             Limited communication skills coupled with immature social and emotional understanding.
  • •             Poor fine and gross motor skills.
  • •             Difficulty with personal organisation.
  • •             Poor auditory/visual memory.
  • •             Poor long and short term memory; difficulty remembering what has been taught.
  • •             Speech and language delay.
  • •             Emotional and behavioural difficulties.
  • •             Sensory impairment.
  • •             A lack of social skills.

There is no reason why children with MLD should not take part in our yoga sessions. In fact, having an activity that they should be able to access could be really beneficial, helping to raise their self esteem. The issues with memory could cause challenges for some children with MLD in our sessions, especially if you are referring back to something from previous lessons or making a memory challenge. You could pair the class so they have someone to work with for this and do still include these things to help them practice using their memory. Giving them the opportunity to work with others could be really advantageous too.

Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)

Typically children with ADD are:

  • Easily distracted
  • Often frustrated
  • Impatient
  • Impulsive
  • Talkative
  • Forgetful

They also have low self esteem and confidence, leading to them having difficulty socialising. With ADHD they also display hyperactivity.

Yoga can help those with ADD by:

  • Increasing body awareness
  • Helping them to relax and develop coping skills
  • Improving focus and concentration
  • Improving social skills

We can help those with ADD in class by:

  • Ensuring they have sufficient personal space
  • Establish trust and make eye contact
  • Adequate praise
  • Focus on breathing
  • Incorporating forward bends
  • Putting moves together to aid memory e.g. Sun Salutation
  • Making noise to release tension
  • Including restorative poses

Cerebral Palsy

This condition is caused by damage to the brain during either pregnancy, childbirth or due to infection. It affects posture, causes hypertonia and limits movement. There are three types:

Spastic – muscles are resistant to movement through over contraction

Athetoid – muscles switch between tense and floppy rapidly causing involuntary movements such as twisting, turning, writhing and drooling

Ataxic – lack of balance, poor coordination and special awareness and tremors due to damage to the cerebellum

Yoga can help those with cerebral palsy by:

  • Stretching and releasing the muscles by holding poses to reduce hypertonia
  • Mobilising and elongating the spine

We can help those with cerebral palsy in class by:

  • Using breathing techniques to stretch the spine and calm the mind
  • Incorporating lying and sitting warm ups and cool downs for those who cannot stand
  • Using chanting to allow a child with cerebral palsy to feel the vibrations in the same way the rest of the class will despite physical limitations
  • Using bridge to strengthen neck, back, thigh leg and buttock muscles, flex the spine. Cobra pose to strengthen the head, neck and arms, spinal alignment. Childs pose for deeper breathing and stretching the spine. Downward Dog to stretch the hamstrings and relieve stiffness in the shoulders. Twists to strengthen spine and make it supple.
  • Relaxation is very important to teach the child to relax the muscles.