Mentor/s
Dr. Valerie Wherley, Exercise Science and Dr. Ciara Leydon, Speech Language Pathology
Abstract
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex developmental disorder that impacts social interactions, verbal and nonverbal communication and includes repetitive/stereotypical behaviors.1 Approximately one in sixty-eight American children are diagnosed with ASD.1 Stereotypical behaviors associated with Autism are categorized as self-stimulatory behaviors (object taping, gazing at lights, scratching, neologisms, etc.). Therapy program goals for children with ASD include minimizing self-stimulatory behaviors and maximizing time spent on task. The participant of this case study was a 17 year old, non-hispanic black male that presented with ASD at Cooperative Educational Services, a school for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. He exhibited various self-stimulatory behaviors, including body rocking, hand flapping, and repetitive non-purposeful vocalization and echolalia. Using the Yogi-Breaks Yoga Curriculum, the goal was to track and maximize the time spent on task during the yoga program. The sessions occurred one to two times a week for 30 minutes at a time, in a calm and quiet space, for a total of six sessions. The participant was able to increase the time spent on task and engage in yoga throughout the six sessions. In all six yoga sessions, time-on-task was recorded at 80% or higher. It was shown that yoga can be used as a positive therapeutic modality in decreasing the self-stimulatory behaviors associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder in this participant.
College and Major available
Exercise Science UG
Location
University Commons
Start Day/Time
4-21-2017 1:00 PM
End Day/Time
4-21-2017 3:00 PM
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.
A Clinical Case Study: Using Yoga to Improve Functional Communication in an Adolescent with Autism Spectrum Disorder
University Commons
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex developmental disorder that impacts social interactions, verbal and nonverbal communication and includes repetitive/stereotypical behaviors.1 Approximately one in sixty-eight American children are diagnosed with ASD.1 Stereotypical behaviors associated with Autism are categorized as self-stimulatory behaviors (object taping, gazing at lights, scratching, neologisms, etc.). Therapy program goals for children with ASD include minimizing self-stimulatory behaviors and maximizing time spent on task. The participant of this case study was a 17 year old, non-hispanic black male that presented with ASD at Cooperative Educational Services, a school for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. He exhibited various self-stimulatory behaviors, including body rocking, hand flapping, and repetitive non-purposeful vocalization and echolalia. Using the Yogi-Breaks Yoga Curriculum, the goal was to track and maximize the time spent on task during the yoga program. The sessions occurred one to two times a week for 30 minutes at a time, in a calm and quiet space, for a total of six sessions. The participant was able to increase the time spent on task and engage in yoga throughout the six sessions. In all six yoga sessions, time-on-task was recorded at 80% or higher. It was shown that yoga can be used as a positive therapeutic modality in decreasing the self-stimulatory behaviors associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder in this participant.
