Autism Awareness Campaign - Brain Gym

Many traditional therapies such as behavioural therapies, occupational therapies, speech therapies, special education etc. were being extensively used to address different aspects of an autistic individual.  People have tried some non-conventional approaches also, which continue to give surprising results.  One such approach is Brain Gym.  My today’s poster is on Brain Gym, as I think, it has a role to play in helping autistic persons in addressing some critical issues.

We have tried brain gym with Pratibha and found good improvements in some coordination, learning and behavioural aspects.

In Brain Gym programs, children repeat certain simple movements such as crawling, yawning, making symbols in the air / on the wall, and drinking water, which are intended to “integrate”, “repattern”, and increase blood flow to the brain.  One of the underlying ideas is that the exercises are meant to ‘balance’ the brain hemispheres so the two “sides” work together better; there is also a notion of integrating the “top” parts of the brain with the “lower” parts of the brain to integrate thought and emotion, as well as integrating visual, auditory and motor skills.  

Brain Gym concept was developed in 1970s by Paul and Gail Dennison, and it seems to be based on neuroscience.  They called their approach “educational kinesthesiology”.  It was not developed for developmentally or intellectually challenged children, but for general child development.  But, many educators, therapists and professionals found it to be very useful for persons with autism.

Pratibha was unable to copy and draw diagonals in a rectangle correctly.  Whenever she copies a “left-to-right” diagonal in a rectangle, she will invariably copy it as “right-to-left” (mirror image).  Such characteristics were seen in spelling patterns also.  This continued for many years.  After practicing Brain Gym for few months, we could see this changing and she was able to understand the orientation of diagonals and copy them correctly.  Also, her attention to details improved.  These could only be few visible indications.  Quite a few other changes must have come resulting in improvements in other faculties too.  I don’t think, we monitored each and every change, which is humanly impossible.  Yes, Brain Gym did help her. 

Remembering a quote by author Coelho, “Autism is part of my child, it’s not everything she is. My child is so much more than a diagnosis.”