Reaching Tall for kids with special needs
Reaching Tall for Kids with Special Needs is by Carly Pascoe at CareWays Community.
Do your kids do soccer or swimming or dance lessons? Do they look forward to it each week, love learning new skills and making new friends? Do they wear their uniform with pride and get along well with their team mates?
What if your child wasn’t able to talk? What if your child had poor social skills and finds making new friends extremely difficult? What if your child wasn’t able to understand verbal information and so couldn’t keep up with the other kids? What if your child wasn’t able to wear the uniform due to the tags and seams and was told if they don’t wear the uniform they aren’t able to participate?
When you have Kids with Special Needs
If you have a child with special needs, this is the daily reality. While you want your child to be included in community events and activities like all other children their age, factors such as their communication, social, emotional , behavioural and sensory needs often mean that accommodations have to be made for them to be included. This is the same for inclusion in after school sports and activities. While the majority of sporting groups and programs will always include a child with special needs, if their staff are not educated regarding working with special needs children and the possible accommodations that have to be made, then the child and family will become stressed and ultimately not return to the group. This leaves them feeling isolated and marginalised.
Kids Reach Tell
Kids Reach Tall is a yoga program for children aged 9-15 years in the Illawarra, NSW and is inclusive of children with special needs. Our classes have children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Cerebral Palsy, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Epilepsy and Anxiety Disorders. We also have many children in our classes with no disability. All of them are in the same class together, and often you can’t really tell who has a disability and who doesn’t. Our classes have been running for two years, are always full and most terms we have a wait list.
Boy doing yoga in the Kids Reach Tall Program
So why do our classes work so well while other attempts at inclusive programs don’t? The first reason is that our yoga teacher Kathy has worked for years supporting children with special needs in mainstream schools. She understands disability, understands special needs children and is passionate about true inclusion of special needs kids into our ‘mainstream’ world. Kathy believes that the accommodations we make for special needs children actually benefit all of the kids in the class-regardless of whether they have a disability or not. Kathy and the kids are supported in the class by our wonderful yoga assistant Gail. Gail works with special needs kids in mainstream schools and, like Kathy, understands special needs kids and the accommodations that need to be made so they can participate in a meaningful way. In our 2016 end of year evaluation one parent made the comment ‘We are so lucky to have Kathy and Gail, if the world had more people like them our children would be better understood’.
The second reason our classes are so successful is due to the assessment of the child before they begin the class. Our registration form asks for all of the usual information you would expect from an after school activity such as name, address and contact details. We also ask for sensory sensitivities, behavioural patterns (such as self-stimulation, anxiety, aggression or withdrawn), behaviour with other children and adults, ability to follow instructions (verbally or through visual cues and gestures) and the ability to communicate needs (verbally or non-verbally).
This vital information informs the planning of the class and ensuring all of the needs of each participant are met-particularly behavioural, communication and sensory needs as without accommodations for these areas the participant will not feel safe and secure. We have quite a few standard strategies for the class such as visuals for every activity, props such as teddy bears to help with mindful breathing and sensory resources such as mind jars to help with teaching anxiety management strategies. From the parent’s assessment of their child Kathy will develop strategies that will support the child’s needs-but it will be likely that the whole class will also use that strategy and that it will benefit the whole class. Everything in our classes is flexible to the needs of the child-however we never compromise the safety of any participants or our teachers.
The Program’s Success
We have a 15 year old teenager who comes to Kids Reach Tall with his 8 year old sister (who has no disability). He has intellectual disability and Autism Spectrum Disorder and loves to pose and sing to himself in front of any surface where he can see his reflection. He is ‘non-verbal’, and yet comes to class with his sister and participates with everyone else. In our 2016 evaluation their mum made the comment ‘My daughter has been able to see that her brother is more than the ‘autism’ that he has been defined and shaped by. The holistic and caring way in which the program is delivered helps give the kids the tools in which to help deal with their anxieties and complexities that they face. My daughter has found a new acceptance for her brother and other children like him.’
We have another sibling group where both boys have Autism Spectrum Disorder. The older brother also has Intellectual Disability and is non-verbal. When they started class, the younger brother would tell Gail and Kathy that his older brother won’t be able to do the activity that was being demonstrated. Gail and Kathy would assure the younger brother that of course he could, and with support the older brother was always able to participate. Over time the younger brother stopped the ‘he won’t be able to do it’ comments. The number of beautiful stories we can share from this program are never ending!
The third reason our classes are so successful is that we cap the number of participants in our classes at 8. All participants are required to register for the term (i.e. no unexpected drop -ins) so friendships can form between the kids as they see each other every week. Knowing exactly who is attending each week also helps to minimise anxiety for the participants. Kathy and Gail find that 8 is a number that is manageable for them in terms of being able to meet the needs of each student. The children attend the community centre and the class like any other child in any other after school activity. Parents are able to enjoy a rare hour of respite!
And the final reason that Kids Reach Tall is so successful as an inclusive program in our community is that we see it and treat is as much more than a kids yoga class. Kids Reach Tall is supporting children with and without disabilities to build friendships. This task that is so simple for many children can be extremely difficult for kids with special needs. Kids Reach Tall is teaching all children strategies to cope with anxiety. While children with special needs often suffer from severe anxiety, we believe that all children benefit from learning strategies that they will be able to use through their whole life. In our 2016 evaluation, parents of three children from three different schools in the Illawarra reported that their child had received praise from school (through merit awards or report cards) for improved behaviour and self-regulation. Kids Reach Tall is breaking down the barriers between the disability and non-disability world by including all children and meeting them where they are at-understanding their challenges and making accommodations to include them in a meaningful way.
How You Can Help
We are currently fundraising for Kids Reach Tall. CareWays receives no money from the government to run this program. The families that come to Kids Reach Tall have children with disabilities, and as the research shows these families often face higher costs of living. The funds we raise will support these families to participate in the program and not at the expense of something else the family may need.
To donate go to https://www.gofundme.com/kids-reach-tall-disability-program
