Brain Gym Exercises and Asperger Syndrome (Part 2 of 3)

This Brain Gym Exercises success story will bring hope to many parents of children with Asperger Syndrome or Autistic Spectrum Disorders.

Being a parent is stressful at the best of times, but even more so parenting a child with special needs. Not only will your child's co-ordination skills, self-help skills and attention be improved by doing these simple exercises daily, you too will benefit by less stress and feel more relaxed.

So, it stands to reason:
Happy Parent = Happy Child = Happy Parent

What's with the dinosaur picture? Fraser had a dinosaur which was believed to be his 'obsession object.'
It turned out the dinosaur was helping Fraser to maintain postural stability when standing, walking or running.

dinosaur toy
Fraser was 4yrs. 7 mths old.
He has Asperger Syndrome and was unable to draw a cross, a circle or a face. He was also exceptionally bad at copying physical movements.

He lagged behind other children of his age in self-help skills and :-

  • was unable to feed himself effectively or cleanly.
  • did not use his left hand much in conjunction with his right hand.
  • could not clap to music with any degree of control before the age of 4.

Fraser attended Nursery accompanied by his wonderful dinosaur toy. It was a through a video from Nursery that I began working with Fraser and mum. Interestingly it turned out that Fraser's mum suffered severe vertigo, even when walking up or down stairs.

NOTE: Brain Gym is the trade mark behind one company offering Educational Kinesiology, which in turn is taken from Applied Kinesiology.

Fraser's mum carried out adapted 'cross-crawl' and lazy 8's exercises daily with him over a couple of months. She wrote this to me.

'It was a real surge forward - I do believe that 'cross-overs' helped something to happen in his neurological system. Fraser hadn't made a leap forward like that since we begain intensive interaction when he was two and 2 1/2 yrs old. I believe that making him do movements he couldn't do independently - that most children of a much younger age group can do seemingly without effort - must have helped him in a catalytic way.'

~ Fraser's mum.

Adapting the Brain Gym Exercises

We adapted the Cross-Crawl exercise to touch the opposite ear with the opposite hand. If you are familiar with developmental difficulties you will understand how difficult this can be for the child. As he was unable to copy movements and found sitting opposite someone very confrontational. (An ASD trait) Therefore, Fraser's mum:
  • sat behind him
  • did the actions hand over hand
  • counted to 10 to make it a finite activity
Another adaptation of the brain gym exercise was to 'sort toys. Two piles of toys placed in front of the child are sorted into 2 baskets, one either side of the child.
  1. Sit behind the child
  2. Work hand over hand, reach across the mid-line of the body
  3. Using right hand pick up toy from left pile and place in right side basket
  4. Using left hand pick up toy from right pile and place in left side basket
In this way you are performing a functional cross-crawl. It can be adapted and combined with other activities. Importantly crossing the mid-line is developmental and children with autistic spectrum disorders may have some degree of dyspraxia.

To read more about 'Why learning is not all in the head,' I recommend the book 'Smart Moves' by Carla Hannaford Phd.

...And read more success stories using these exercises and how happinesspages.com helped Audrey Sue.

Rhythmic 8's

Fraser found this much more fun as it simply involved mum sitting with him in between her legs, cuddling him and singing. She held his hands and made the rhythmic sideways number 8 or infinity sign in the air as they listened to the music and sang the songs he liked so much. .

In What Ways did Fraser Succeed?

'Fraser's general co-ordination and concentration picked up considerably.
He became quite suddenly interested and was able to write his name and quickly following this, most of the letters of the alphabet.
He adapted very well to his new class - reception - and learnt how to stay quiet during assemblies.
He learnt how to listen to a teacher as part of a group and his self-awareness developed hugely.
His target was to write his Christian name in one term (12 weeks). He wrote his whole name in 2-3 weeks.'

You don't have to do Brain Gym Exercises forever, but remember they are there to be used whenever your child hits a learning or development 'roadblock.'

'You tend to be most vigilant in the eye of the storm or when you are feeling most anxious about your child's disability, and conversely you tend to take things more easy and enjoy the ride when your child suddenly leaps in the driver's seat and appears to be taking control of his own journey as Fraser has seemed to be doing these past few months.'

~Fraser's mum

NEXT Brain GYm Exercises 3

Return from Brain Gym Exercises and Asperger Syndrome to Brain Gym Exercises 1

What is Asperger Syndrome?

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time!

'Christopher is an intelligent youth who lives in the functional hinterland of autism--every day is an investigation for him because of all the aspects of human life that he does not quite get.'
A MUST read!

Asperger Syndrome is a developmental or Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Individuals experience difficulties with social and communication skills. Typified by limited and very focused interests, people with Asperger Syndrome dislike change and are most comfortable with fixed routines.
They may lack coordination, exhibit unusual facial expressions, body postures / gestures, be somewhat clumsy. and lag behind peers in fine motor skills (e.g. handwriting) and gross motor skills (e.g. riding a bike.)

Ask the SEN Coach

Do you have a question about Asperger Syndrome, Brain Gym or SEN? Do you have a Brain Gym success story to tell?

Click here to send me your question or story.

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