Teaching Mindfulness to Kids on the Spectrum

Practicing mindfulness is just as important for your child as it is for you. It’s easy to create opportunities that motivate mindfulness and can lead to a relaxing bonding experience for parents and their kids on the spectrum.

In 2004, when I specialized in the field of psychology, autism spectrum disorder, and special needs education, there was no mention of mindfulness. Back then, therapy and intervention focused on specific goals and targets that needed to be mastered in a limited time according to percentages and graphs.

To a certain extent, some programs are still focused on these rigid targets. Often, behavioral interventions are not mindful of the child’s immediate sensory needs or their lack of calmness. This is why the evolution of therapeutic modalities is such an important process.

Mindfulness-based therapy (MBT) has been proven to reduce the symptoms of anxiety and depression. These are two of the most common comorbid concerns for individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

As a parent of an autistic child, you probably spend a lot of time contemplating what the future might hold for your child and the rest of your family. Therefore, it makes sense to look into coping strategies with long-term effects.

When a child is young, it may be easier to recommend short-term strategies, such as 40 hours of therapy, which may include a mixture of behavioral, speech, and occupational therapy. What happens when your child grows up, though? Do they still need the same amount of therapy, and is it sustainable from an emotional and financial point of view?

Therapeutic recommendations have evolved and include more coping strategies that children can learn at a young age and utilize throughout adulthood. This includes mindfulness practices.

What is mindfulness?

As the practice of mindfulness is still relatively new, there is no formal description of what it entails. This makes it easier to fit to the individual’s specific needs. If your child likes yoga, meditation, or another activity, you can include this in their program. Whatever you do, remember that consistency is key.

All of us have busy lives and jam-packed schedules, so it’s very easy to get distracted and forget about stress-release activities. These are often the first activities we compromise when we have a busy day. We would rather skip our gym or yoga class than cancel a work meeting.

Mindfulness and being consistent with stress release practices will increase productivity in the long-term. It would seem like sticking to a simple mindfulness practice (like a 10-minute meditation session) should be an easy task, but trust me, it’s easier said than done! Maybe looking at some ideas will get you motivated.

Some examples of mindfulness for kids

Mindful walks and talks

A favorite activity for the children we work with is a mindful walk and talk. Parents are advised to do a little preparation and then enjoy the fruits of this exercise with their children. You can give your child a choice of where they want to walk or wander: a new forest or perhaps an enchanted garden. It’s always a good idea to do a a bit of research ahead of time so that you can prepare your child.

You can also create a list of insects or types of flowers to search for. Visual cues and clues are always a good idea for such expeditions. During the mindfulness walk, take photos of what you discover with your child and ask them to take some, too. These photos are excellent tools in eliciting language and recalling events should you choose to create a “visual diary” of your outing. This creates more opportunities for you and your child to engage in shared enjoyment (joint attention) and create excitement for future outings.

Shadow yoga

Another one of our favorite activities at AIMS Global is including shadow practice with our children. We create yoga poses and ask our kids to copy the shadow we create on the wall or floor. Taking a quick photo on your phone, or even using a chalkboard to create a more vivid representation of the poses, can also lead to more accurate imitation—as well as a more fun experience.

While taking your child’s developmental level into consideration, you can create activities using this example as inspiration. Remember to customize the activity not only to their developmental level, but also to their interests.

Animal poses are always a fun exercise, where you walk like a bear, roll over like a happy pig, howl like a wolf, or stretch tall like a giraffe. The bonus here is not only that you share quite entertaining moments with your little one, but also that you are working on various important concepts and goals—gross motor, fine motor, oral motor imitation, joint attention, focus, and attention.

Breathing exercises

We all know the benefit of taking a few deep breaths before we react to someone we perceive as rude or frustrating. It helps us to gather our thoughts and rephrase our response into one that we won’t regret. We should practice this more frequently and include our children in such calming exercises. These should not only be practiced when we are already frustrated; we should practice these when we feel the first tingles of agitation or anxiety arising.

Get into the habit of discussing future events (especially those you know might require some self-control) with your child and then ask them to take a few deep breaths with you. The more you practice this with them before an anxiety-provoking event, the more likely they will be able to utilize it when needed.

A great tip we learned from an autistic adult was to combine auditory and visual instructions. For example, when you practice the breathing exercises, combine this with a photo of your child breathing (you can add the words “let’s breathe” too). Once they have practiced this exercise a bit with you, and the anxiety-causing moment occurs, hold up the same visual and let their muscle memory do the rest.

The beauty of mindfulness activities is that there is no “wrong way” to do it when you intend to calm your child’s mind. You will notice when one of these exercises is making a difference; if not, move on to another. These exercises will provide some much-needed downtime and increase coping skills for those trickier times in life.
How or when to implement mindfulness activities

Honestly, the more you can practice mindfulness, the better. Not only for your child, but for yourself, too. Strive to make a 10-minute mindfulness activity a daily habit. You can always move towards more frequent moments of being present with your child.

We share the following advice with our clients: replace pep talks with prep talks. In essence, this reminds us that the more we prepare for upcoming activities of change or transition, the less we will need to focus on the consequences of these. Our children will be prepared and well-adjusted. The more we instill these practices in our own busy lives, the more we will model the reactions we are craving from our children.

Think of it like this: if you walk into a new room with intense lights, loud sounds, and unfamiliar smells, how would you feel if your partner or friend starts shouting at you? Ideally, someone that calmly speaks to you with a low-arousal tone will help decrease your anxiety. Our children model our behavior. If we can consistently practice mindfulness activities in our own lives, it will have a positive impact on our children’s lives, too.

Download that meditation app that keeps popping up on your feed, or register for that long desired yoga session; it might make a bigger difference than just some me-time.