I had a great conversation yesterday with a woman who is trained in "Yoga for the Special Needs Child." Our OT gave us the brochure about a month ago and I finally got around to calling her. She practices at a studio where she teaches both group classes and then works individually with kids with special needs. Her own daughter has CP and is 8; she's been doing yoga with her since she was 11 months old and feels it is one of the main reasons why her daughter has been able to avoid having botox injections to reduce spasticity.
The way it works is that we would have an initial evaluation/get-to-know-you meeting which is free, and then we'd have weekly sessions of about 45 minutes. These cost $45. She would allow Isabelle to be present and participate for no extra charge which is great.
I was very impressed with how structured her work is (she devises weekly treatment plans and regularly reviews goals and sets new ones), I like that she has been formally trained both as a yoga instructor as well as an instructor for therapeutic yoga for kids with special needs, and I think it's a bonus that she herself has a daughter with CP (not a bonus for her, but for me in that she has very personal experience with the work she does).
For all of these reasons, I think we're going to take the plunge and sign the girls up to start taking yoga starting at the end of the month. I'm really excited, as I have been looking for something movement-oriented for both of them and I myself am ready to start practicing yoga again, so this will be a good motivator!
I'm really eager to see how it works out and will be sure to let you know.
2 comments:
That sounds awesome! Let me know how it goes. I am going to see if we have something like that here.
I have been looking all over our area for a program like this. So far all that I have found is programs for 7 years and up.
I am working with Ben's preschool teacher to bring yoga into the class. Who knows...
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