Worcester, MA: Autistic students benefit from mediation in school

Nov 11, 2018, Worcester (MA) Telegram: Can meditation help kids with autism better cope with sensory overload? https://www.telegram.com/entertainmentlife/20181111/can-meditation-help-kids-with-autism-better-cope-with-sensory-overload … Though my son had never started meditating by himself before, it’s not unfamiliar to him; his occupational therapist incorporates mindfulness into his weekly sessions, usually with the Breathe Kids meditation app. My son has autism, and a large part of his occupational therapy centers on recognizing his emotional responses to stimuli and making appropriate choices about how to act on those responses. Mindfulness is helping him develop this skill set because, to get better at self-regulation, he needs to understand the connection between his emotions and his actions. And when you pare meditation down to basics, what’s left is simply an attempt to forge connections: Between our minds and our bodies, our sensory input and behavioral output, our internal selves and the external world around us. … Sarah Selznick, a pediatric occupational therapist from Virginia who has taught meditation skills, says meditation addresses three critical areas with which kids with autism struggle: Motor skills, sensory regulation and socialization. … Bailey Koch, a special education professor at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, knows firsthand how beneficial meditation practice can be for kids with special needs: She used it in her classrooms as a public school teacher, and now teaches it to future educators in her position at the university. She also uses it with her 12-year-old son, who has autism and often experiences the kind of intense emotional meltdowns that are common for kids on the spectrum, in response to triggers such as minor disruptions in routine or unexpected changes in plans….