With the upsurge of children diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorders, Dance/Movement Therapy combined with Yoga presents itself as an important strategy for reaching these children and developing not only their motor skills but also their relationship skills. Dance/Movement/Yoga Therapy provides an effective tool for building new motor, behavior and communication skills in children and for deepening harmony between the child and the parent/ caregiver.
Through Dance/Movement/Yoga Therapy, children
become grounded in space and time
increase eye contact
improve impulse control
lengthen their attention span
increase their sense of body image and boundaries,
distinguishing self from others
develop self-calming skills - through using their breath
become more related to their parents, siblings and other people
expand their expressive capacities non-verbally and verbally
develop strength, flexibility and balance
Very often children's difficulties and/or limitations are clearly manifest in their behavior and in their bodily expressions. The therapeutic modalities of yoga, movement and creative play directly engages with their behavior, allowing for connection and non-verbal communication. As children engage in physical activities which bring them pleasure and parents/caregivers join in their child’s world non-verbally, greater rapport can be established. With this connection, the child begins to feel more at ease and can be open to learning new behaviors.
Dance/Movement Therapy is complementary to Applied Behavioral Analysis and, in some ways is similar to Greenspan’s Floortime approach; however, there are some important differences. Based on the assumption that the body and mind are interrelated, the American Dance Therapy Association (www.adta.org) defines Dance/Movement Therapy as “the psychotherapeutic use of movement as a process which furthers the emotional, cognitive, social and physical integration of the individual.” Both Dance/Movement Therapy and Floortime have the principle of following the child’s lead; however, in Dance/Movement Therapy, we not only follow, we also mirror and embody the child’s style and world ourselves, both physically and affectively.
Furthermore, Dance/Movement Therapists are keenly trained at a Master’s Level in movement observation, evaluation, and how to make non-verbal interventions that improve the client’s way of being in the world. We attune to the child’s world, matching the quality and feeling tone of her/his movements. The therapist builds connection by treating the child’s non-verbal behaviors as communications in and of themselves.
In the beginning phase of treatment, attuning is the main strategy and discipline. Appropriate, firm limits are set on behaviors destructive to self and others. Gradually, through consistent empathic attunement, a sense of relatedness is established.
Then, using our kinesthetic and developmental knowledge, we gradually stretch the child’s world of attention and draw the child into the interactional world, expanding his/her movement and speech range, rhythm and style. Renowned psychologists Donald Winnicott, Margaret Mahler, and Daniel Stern, as well as neuro-psychobiologists Daniel Siegel and Allan Schore, have all shown that when a child is in a relatively trusting relationship with another adult, the child more readily learns, absorbs, and integrates new information, and can then apply it with others.
The tools of Yoga are also very helpful for autistic children: warming up the body (including music and song), moving like various animals, making the animal sounds, making up our own poses as well as learning traditional poses, crossing the mid-line activities for brain integration, practicing movement and stillness, using the breath for self-calming, and taking time to rest. Group classes focus more on creative yoga and building the social world; Individual sessions go deeper into a child’s individual motoric, communication and behavioral challenges.
Many Dance/Movement Therapists work with the family as a system, so parental involvement can greatly enhance the benefit to the child. The therapist can model for the parent(s) some new ways of non-verbally connecting with their child and then can coach them as they practice this with their child in the therapist’s presence. Then, at another time, the therapist can meet privately with the parent(s) to provide support and to discuss the sessions and how to apply what is done in the sessions at home. Dance/Movement Therapy involves changing how we “dance” our day with one another, noticing how and when we respond (or not) to one another’s cues. The “dance” of mutual cueing and attachment begins in the first year of life. If a child is starting with a biological deficit or biochemical instability, which then may lead to a mismatch of cueing, the task of mutual interaction is significantly harder. Dance/Movement Therapy helps to turn this around, increases matched cueing, and supports positive attachment as well as neurobiological development and learning along healthy developmental lines.
In New York State, a person must now be licensed to practice as a Dance/Movement Therapist, with the credential LCAT - Licensed Creative Arts Therapist. Do look for this credential!