By Karen Kaplan, MS
We all may become frustrated at some time. Each of us may become angry at something or someone. We may all experience anxiety over something. We all may doubt ourselves during our lifetimes. So, we all need to develop strategies to help us let go and move on. We all need techniques for calming down and getting over the tight spaces we may find ourselves in. What about when someone has exceptional needs? Parents, teachers, and therapists can provide a variety of strategies to help everyone just let go.
Considering the unique needs of individuals with special needs, here are some strategies that can be particularly beneficial
Suggest taking a walk in nature. Seeing birds in trees can calm you down. Sitting by a running stream of water or even tossing rocks in a pond can help. Collecting leaves is soothing.
Help create a musical playlist that inspires calm or joy. Then, put the list on their phone or identify songs on Pandora or Spotify to play.
Try some yoga practices. Gorilla Yoga Amazon.com: gorilla yoga cards is great for children. Review this book on poses for special needs. Asanas for Autism and Special Needs: Hardy, Shawnee Thornton: 9781849059886: Amazon.com: Books
In the home or classroom, create a special quiet and soothing space where someone might retreat to regain calmness and let go. Soft lighting helps, pillows support and squishy manipulatives can also reduce anxiety.
Make available a wide variety of sensory regulating toys and objects to redirect and self-soothe Amazon.com:sensory tools for autism
Listen to Chimes to help calm and refocus
Try introducing a chime, singing bowl, or other similar instrument.
Allow each person to play the chime themselves and ask them to describe what they notice and hear.
Ask them to close their eyes and feel the vibration of the chime.
When the chime stops, ask them to pay attention to any other sounds they might hear for the next few minutes.
Start with sounds that are far away like noises outside the room.
Slowly bring the listener closer into the room and into their own body. Can they hear themselves breathing? Can they hear their hearts beating?
Invite them to share what they heard.
How About Making a Body Scan? (This can get the mind off a current concern)
Help find a quiet place to lie down or sit comfortably with an aligned spine.
If you are sitting, ensure your head is supported with a headrest or against a wall and your feet are firmly planted.
Get comfortable and help them notice all the places where their body contacts the support of the floor or chair.
Encourage everyone to close their eyes or, if that feels uncomfortable, soften and lower the eye gaze.
Pay attention to each part of their body, taking at least one breath and noticing any sensations.
Starting with the feet and moving slowly upward, pausing and breathing at the ankles, lower legs, knees, upper legs, hips, torso, chest, shoulders, hands, wrists, elbows, and shoulders.
Notice the upper back, middle back, lower back, glutes, back of the legs, and soles of the feet.
Then think about the whole backside.
Finally, think about their whole body. Take several breaths and then rest.
How About Taking a Walk?
Assist in taking a slow walk, either indoors or outside.
Encourage them to notice how their feet feel as they take one step at a time.
If outside, pay attention to the feeling of grass or dirt or cement under their feet.
Create a labyrinth in the shape of a figure eight or spiral. Slowly walk the pattern to trigger the relaxation response and reduce stress.
Try Eye Palming
Rub hands together briskly until they feel a good amount of heat in their palms.
Close the eyes and cup the palms over their eyes, eliminating light without pressing into the eye sockets or cheekbones.
Breathe deeply and slowly for a few rounds.
Stay this way as long as they feel comfortable.
Teach people to develop and say positive mantras when in a stressful situation
I am brave.
I can get through this.
I let go and relax.
I am strong.
I am playful.
This, too, will pass.
A few final recommendations
Utilize Carol Grays's Social Story method to create visual stories about events and incidents that may cause stress and incorporate strategies for calming and letting go Home - Carol Gray - Social Stories (carolgraysocialstories.com)
Teachers and parents can institute consistent routines to reduce stress at home, school, recess, and community.
Develop physical activities such as dancing, sports, jumping, swinging, and climbing. If they are dancing, their stress is redirected. If they are involved in sports, then perhaps those activities will reduce frustrations and help them let go.
Acknowledge feelings. Let them know you hear them.
Encourage them to express sadness, anxiety, frustration, and anger without judgment. They need to know that everyone experiences all the emotions they are having and feel comfortable expressing their situation to you.
There are support groups for individuals with special needs. Contact your local school district, regional center, or local United Cerebral Palsy Association or Autism Society and have them refer you to support groups for your individuals.
Sometimes, individual counseling or therapeutic intervention is a good way to help your individual develop coping strategies for letting go. Cognitive Behavior Therapy can help. Sometimes, a consultation with an Occupational Therapist who can develop a sensory regulatory diet is just the answer. Working with a speech therapist is needed to ensure effective communication strategies for the individual.
We all experience the need to LET GO.
Karen Kaplan, MS, is a native San Franciscan. She completed her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, in speech pathology and audiology. She minored in special education and obtained her speech therapist and special education credentials in California. Karen worked as a speech therapist for schools for 20 years before opening her own residential and education program for students with autism. She worked in credential programs at Sacramento State University as well as UC Davis and spent 20 years directing private schools for those with autism and similar learning challenges.
Karen founded a non-profit, Offerings, which helps cultures globally to understand those with developmental challenges. For seven years, she founded and facilitated an autism lecture series and resource fair in Northern California. Karen still facilitates an annual Autism Awesomeness event. She is currently consulting, helping families, schools, and centers for children, teens, and adults. Karen has authored three books: Reach Me Teach Me: A Public School Program for the Autistic Child; A Handbook for Teachers and Administrators, On the Yellow Brick Road: My Search for Home and Hope for the Child with Autism, and Typewriting to Heaven… and Back: Conversations with My Dad on Death, Afterlife and Living (which is not about autism but about having important conversations with those we love).
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