07/08/2022
YOGA THERAPY/ LEARNING TO READ/ SPECIAL NEEDS/ PART II
What if a child has a special need?
There are children who only relate to materialistic world in most literal sense. They cannot use anything abstract for learning. It has to be connected to one of their senses in a literal way. What is meant is, that they cannot visualise or connect to a letter in their mind. They have to see it, write it, touch it, connect it to an object, a sense. Here we have to be very creative. Find out what is the sense, that is strongest for learning? Usually there are more then just one. Lets say it is hands (crasping). In yoga therapy there are 11 senses. Here we can use typing and see what works the best? One way to do it is like this: A therapist reads aloud a word, there is a visual text of this word in a book or worksheet. Student writes the word, using that text. When a student has learned all the letters, he can start reading the words he wrote. We can also start with only the letters. We can say write a letter A.
I remember a student who was so slow, I could count to 10 between the letters. For example I said: “Dog.” and asked “What is the letter dog stats with?” “D”, student answers. Then he looks the keyboard to find letter D. Then I give the next letter and say “Dog, do… What is the next letter?” Maybe I get an answer and maybe not. Then he looks for a letter O. And so on. First it took forever and I really had to hold myself back and let him find all the letters. Later texts become sentences and here we can teach about capital letter and a dot and other grammar when it is in the text. When they become better and better, they can start reading what they wrote, correcting the mistakes themselves. At some point they can just write a story from a book, to practice. And at some point they can write their own story.
When they get bored, they can pick the colour of the text, the font, the size. Learn to save it in a file. Learn to send it to a parent via e-mail for example. Maybe they want to record their reading and send it to a parent. Maybe they want to make a video and send it to a parent or teacher.
Children who can already write, we can use handwriting instead.
When a student has dyslexia I do not correct them. Only when absolutely necessary and even then I just say a word or a sentence. Usually, the calmer the student is the less mistakes they make. This is valid for all students, special or not. Here we can use calming techniques, like soothing movement, relaxation, bhavana, mantra, pranayama, kavacams. Vedic chanting does wonders here. I don’t know why it works so well, but it does. Maybe because it changes negative energy to positive? We have found, that when we chant before a lesson, any subject becomes easier to understand. And dyslexia is less of a problem. With vedic chanting we have seen, that dyslexia has almost disappeared. Well, in every day life it is and sometimes it reappears when a person is very nervous.
With autistic children we have to be even more attentive to their needs and fears. For some reason usually they have lot of fears. Those fears may only become apparent, when you meet them in a different environment, like a workshop, party, camp, excursion etc. Lets say it is a place of nature and you find out, that they are scared of spiders, ants, mosquitos, branches, snails, tall grass, food etc. It is like they are afraid to live, almost. Like something does not allow them to live? Root chakra problem? Trauma? Inherited fear? Inherited trauma? Here the best remedy seems to be making them slowly less afraid of the environment they live in- inside and outside. It can be as simple as picking berries in the garden. And ants, spiders, soil become less scary. We can offer different activities, opening up their system for more possibilities and removing this invisible box that seems to surround them. When this is done regularly, we can see how they open up more and more and enjoy life more and more. And learn better. It is reconnection. It is yoga.
TO BE CONTINUED….
BY Katri Kaldaru
