Homeschooling  with Autism

A bit of an energy boost can go a long way when it comes to your homeschooling!  It is great to break up your homeschooling day with a bit of physical fun!

 

There are many physical and mental wellness benefits of exercising.  It can improve social skills, communication, academics.  An increase in physical exertion can increase on-task behaviours, appropriate behaviours and decrease or reduce repetitive, maladaptive, or problem behaviours. 

 

While there are many positive benefits of exercising, it can sometimes be challenging for those who have autism.  It is highly recommended that you consult with your family doctor to discuss any work out methods that you are uncertain of related to your child's ability and physical conditions.  Teaching exercising to someone with autism can be done with prompting and modeling.  It can also be done with visual supports.  Exercising can also be used to learn about Body Part Identification such as touch your head, shoulders, knees, toes.

 

When designing an individualized exercise program, you can select the appropriate physical exercises based on their individual level of abilities and set realistic goals of the amount of how many need to be done, (such as 10 sit ups) or for how long (such as 5 minutes of stationary cycling).

 

Exercise is an evidence-based practice.  In a list of 13 different therapies that are typically used for someone who is on the autism spectrum, exercising has been ranked number 1 in terms of Benefit Scores; however number 4 is always the most common one that is generally focused on in most cases.

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1. Exercise

2. Physical Therapy

3. Occupational Therapy

4. Speech Therapy

5. Sensory Integration

6. Applied Behaviour Analysis

7. Feeding Therapy

8. Music Therapy

9. Floor time

10. Aqua therapy

12. Animal Therapy

13. Listening Programs    

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Where to start?

For lower self-stimulatory behaviour, start off with 10 minutes of a low intensity workout can be carried over the course of 60 minutes.  You can increase this over time.

 

10 Minutes of Low Intensity Work Out Activities = Through 60 Minutes.

 

Start off with simple warm ups!  Here are some suggestions which you might want to consider using in your workout routine:

 

PEC's Workout:  You can create a visual exercise system with pictures of the different work out activities that you would like to do and a number for the amount or minutes.  Such as push ups with a number card of how many need to be done or a set amount of minutes.  You can also use a timer to help with transition to another activity.

 

Video Modeling:  There are many videos online that can be viewed for free and you can imitate the actions.  This is great for rainy days when you can't go out to play.  Select if you want something up beat with some lively music such as basic aerobics or something a bit more calming such as a yoga video.  Positions in yoga can help to improve muscle tone, strength, coordination and body awareness.  Stretching can help improve flexibility and proprioception

 

Home Equipment:  Personal equipment can also be applied to your program but remember, you don't need to spend a lot of money on equipment to have your very own workout routine. 

 

• Yoga Balls - Yoga balls and mats can help with stretching and balancing.

• Treadmill or Stationary Bike - This activity can sometimes help with the reduction in hand-flapping and echolalia.

• Bean Bags - Playing catch or knock objects off an overturned basket as a target, or throw bean bags into a basket helps with coordination.

• Log Roller and/or Floor Mats - Great for stretching. Hip Extensions which requires lying flat on the back and lifting the hips up in the air improves abdominal strength, trunk control and reduce risk of lower back injuries.

• Dumb Bells or Kettle Weights - You can use 1 lbs. Dumb bells to improve tone, muscular strength, endurance and motor coordination.  This can be done in the bench press style or freehand.

• Agility Ladder – This is when tape is placed on the floor or on a carpet in a hop scotch pattern.  This helps improve eye-foot coordination, speed and motor planning.  You can also draw something on the driveway with sidewalk chalk on sunny days!

• Trampoline - Who doesn't love to bounce? The bigger the better! 

• Swimming - If you have a pool, swimming is a great activity in the warmer weather. 

 

Cooling Down

Remember that perfection of the work out activity itself is NOT the goal, persistence is.  It is important to focus more on the movement first and the actual sport second.  Once this has been introduced into your homeschooling routine, you can let your child choose and select what work out activities they want to do.  You set the amount of how many or the duration for how long each activity is within your child's physical limits.  Make it a realistic goal.  To promote positivity and encouragement with your workout routine, select something that is possible for your child to do within their abilities and build up to new challenges gradually.