Aspies For Freedom

Alright parents, what do you think?

Would yuo be interested in sending your ASD child to a holistic therapy class for 10 weeks? Do you think it would be beneficial?

We're talking-
Reflexology
Meditation
Crystal therapy
Aromatherapy

And stuff like that. Do you think, a course on something different each week, would help empower your child?

Please reply

It would depend on where the class was held and by whom?

My son would like to go to some kind of group but its not possible to get adequate supervision.

It depends. I think courses can't be changed quickly to find out if they work for autistic children. My son would totally freak out if I'd send him somewhere else every few weeks. Or if the courses would change a couple of times a day. It's not that he would not want to do it, but it would do him no good. And I think 10 weeks is not much for children who adapt very slow to new situations.

On the other hand, I think some of those courses would be good for any child. Like learning kind of meditation, yoga, autosuggestive technics and so on.

Another point is, that the kids might not have enough time for being kids, if they are send from course to course. I see it with my son. He has three dates a week now (one will stop in near future, I hope) and that is a lot for him, as he has to do his homework from school as well.

Sibylle

It would all be done in the one place, but with a few different tutors (4).

Honestly the only thing that might be of interest in that list is meditation to me for a child, other than that, I don't put much stock in stuff like crystal therapy or reflexology... aromatherapy is only good if you enjoy smelling different scents and if you don't have allergies to strong scents.

The meditation might be of interest, if it was properly taught by buddhist monks or someone else who had the skills to effectivley teach meditation. I'd have a problem with allowing any adult to teach crystal therapy or aromatherapy techniques as valid or truthful to my child when these techniques are scientifically unproven.

Another problem I would have is with the word empowerment. I have taught my children about democracy. They know that the essence of a democracy is not giving power to, it is taking it away.

Yes, the only thing that would make sense to me, too, is meditation or yoga, thai-chi or something alike. And for the last one it's only for children without severe motoric problems.

Sibylle

It would be very expensive, too, I would imagine. Tai Chi would be a good idea but I also think art therapy would be helpful.

I can't imagine my son having any interest in those types of therapies.  He is wired to be very practical (well, he might like reflexology - he is extremely tactile).  If he isn't interested, he won't benefit, because he'll just tune out.

If I had reason to believe something like this might work, I might ask him to try it for an hour every week or so, and if he liked it, it could get more intensive, but I wouldn't sign up off the bat for something like what you've proposed.