Yoga and ADHD

Yoga incorporates breathing techniques, postural control, muscle strengthening, flexibility and cognitive control which can help promote self-control, attention, body awareness, and stress management. These are all skills that are beneficial for children with ADHD to practice.

Recent research analyzed the benefits of yoga in 49 children (average age 10.50 years old) with ADHD. The participants were assigned to a yoga exercise group for an 8 week exercise intervention, 2x/week x 40 minute sessions or a control group. All subjects were evaluated with the Visual Pursuit Test and Determination Test prior to and after the intervention.

The Visual Pursuit Test is used to assess visual perception involving sustained attention and the Determination Test is used to evaluate the ability to determine multiple-choice reaction requiring inhibitory ability and selective attention.

The results indicated the following:

• significant improvements in accuracy rate and reaction time of the two tests were observed over time in the exercise group compared with the control group.

The researchers concluded that yoga exercises can be beneficial as a behavioral intervention for children with attention and inhibition problems.

Reference: Chou C, Huang C. (2017) Effects of an 8-week yoga program on sustained attention and discrimination function in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. PeerJ 5:e2883https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.2883

Check out some of our amazing yoga resources for kids!

 

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Physical Therapy Interventions and Developmental Coordination Disorder

The Journal of Motor Learning and Development published a review to identify the types of interventions in physical therapy contexts used in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and whether these interventions are effective.  The systemic search revealed 29 articles of moderate to good quality to analyze.  The results indicated that:

• task-oriented approaches as well as motor skill training–based interventions have shown beneficial effects in improving motor function in children with DCD.
• physical therapy interventions were effective compared to inaction.

The researchers recommend the use of task-oriented and traditional physical therapy interventions for children with DCD with clear goals and outcome measures for individual children.

Reference:  Offor, N., Ossom Williamson, P., & Caçola, P. (2016). Effectiveness of Interventions for Children With Developmental Coordination Disorder in Physical Therapy Contexts: A Systematic Literature Review and Meta-Analysis. Journal of Motor Learning and Development, 4(2), 169-196.

25+ Bilateral Coordination Exercises Download of 28 bilateral coordination exercise sheets including QR codes with links to video demonstration of exercises. Also includes hand out explaining bilateral coordination.  Find out more information.

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