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Related Services in Special Education Elementary Education - Coggle…

- - - - Drama Therapy is another form of creative expression that assists with healing and has been used widely throughout history. Students with low self-esteem, learning disabilities, serious illnesses, depression, behavioural problems and autism spectrum disorders can benefit from drama therapy. Through drama therapy, the individual can express emotions, solve problems creatively, learn perseverance, build confidence and self-esteem, and improve social skills
        
        Drama therapy includes activities such as:
        
        Role play: explores life experiences by creating an imaginary environment
        
        Using objects and materials: using the objects as a cypher to deal with problematic feelings or experiences.
        
        Wearing masks and costumes: Depicts the self and self-image
        
        Using play, storytelling, and fable: Searches for problems within events of issues
        
        Creating “ritual”: Acknowledging changes of life milestones
        
        Acting in progressive stages: Developing new ways to connect to one’s self and to others.
        
        Storytelling
        
        Puppetry
      - Aquatics helps children meet strength, range of motion/flexibility, balance, coordination, endurance, and walking goals. The buoyancy of the water helps reduce human body weight and allows children to move in ways they are unable to on land. Students with Cerebral Palsy, Juvenile Arthritis, Spina Bifida, Scoliosis, Down’s Syndrome, Muscular Dystrophy, Autism, Sensory Processing Disorder, and Orthopedic or Musculoskeletal Pain Syndromes can benefit from aquatics therapy.
        
        Aquatics will help children develop the following:
        -Increased strength and range of motion for a possible joint injury. -Reduces pain and discomfort in patients recovering from injuries. -Improves breath control and respiration, especially in children with speech issues it will help improve proper breathing control for speaking.
        -Reach developmental milestones. Studies show it has helped children with cerebral palsy or diagnosed with autism in improving mobility and balance.
        -Improved social skills and self-confidence.
        -Exercise and play in the pool will help decrease social anxiety, and increase confidence, improve competitive play, encourage speaking in children who have anxiety.
        -Seen as a fun and safe environment for therapy sessions – has a recreational feel to it compared to a clinical office setting
        
        Activities:
        
        Aqua running
        
        Ai Chi is diaphragmatic breathing as well as resistance training in water. It builds coordination and muscle strength.
        
        The Burdenco method is designed to develop flexibility, coordination, balance, and speed
        
        Watsu involves an individual forming slow movements underwater and provides deep relaxation.
      - Art Therapy allows students with physical, emotional, mental and behavioural issues a way to communicate their thoughts and emotions that are too complex or confusing to speak about. Art therapy will work on the individual child’s strengths on their own terms. It helps patients interpret, express, and resolve their emotions and thoughts. It has been shown to
        
        It has been shown to
        
        Increase motor skills with material manipulation
        
        Develop new skills
        
        Improve focus
        
        Unlearn bad habits and behaviours and replace them with positive behaviours
        
        Teach perseverance
        
        Develop confidence in their own abilities while modelling appropriate actions and behaviours
        
        Build self-esteem
        
        Examples of activities in art therapy are sketching, colouring, painting, creating mandalas, doodling or scribbling, finger painting, photography, making collages, sculpting, carving, moulding clay, making cards, crafts, using textiles or digital art.
        
        Student example of Art Therapy. We use are therapy in our school as an after-school activity for a specific group of students. The students are selected and the group includes autistic, students with social and behavioural challenges. We have seen tremendous growth in these individuals. They learn to consider others and express their emotions. We change the focus each week and sometimes students can interact and collaborate and other times they need to work quietly. Many of them relish the time of quiet and peace as well as the opportunity to express themselves without boundaries.
      - Equine therapy and animal interactions Equine therapy in particular can be used to treat behavioural problems, anxiety and depression. Horse-assisted therapy has proven effective for a variety of speech, occupational, emotional, and physical disabilities. Horse-assisted therapy and animal interactions are beneficial for individuals.
        Animal interactions allow for an opportunity for the animal to act as a buffer between children and other people. This can give kids with autism, behavioural and learning disabilities valuable space so they can be more relaxed in social situations.
        
        Physical benefits of animal interactions:
        -Improve cardiovascular health
        -Reduce or alleviate pain
        -Hone fine motor skills Improve independent or assisted movementIncrease amounts of exercise Improve joint movement -Enhance self-esteem and self-confidence Increase empathy, compassion, and nurturing
        -Reduce stress Increase feelings of security, happiness, and hope -Reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety
        -Improve verbal and non-verbal communication skills
        -Enhance planning and organizational skills
        Animal interaction activities include feeding, grooming, and bathing the animals.
        
        There are 4 types of equine therapy.
        
        Therapeutic horseback riding. In therapeutic horseback riding, an individual benefits physically and mentally from riding a horse.
        
        Hippotherapy uses the horses' movements to address neurological and physical disabilities
        
        Equine-assisted learning supports individuals to learn life skills through interaction with horses.
        
        Equine-assisted psychotherapy addresses issues such as anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or major depression. This is done with the support of a licensed psychotherapist and horse handler.
        
        Student example that shows the benefit of Equine Therapy.
        A family friend has a son who is an athetoid Cerebral Palsy child. He has benefitted from equine therapy for many years. Being athetoid, he has no motor control. Yet when he is on the horse's back he is able to focus and balance. He feels accomplished and proud of himself and it is an activity that makes him very happy.
        
        Student example: The same athetoid CP boy mentioned in equine therapy has 2 golden retrievers that are trained and used to calm him when he has epileptic fits.
        Another example is a school in China that has care dogs that are used by the guidance department to help students with anxiety. Students can care for the dogs, feed them and pet them as a form of therapy and a way to connect with the student.
      - Music Therapy can address a number of sensory needs for children with special needs such as cerebral palsy, speech and language disorders, ADHD, Autism, and emotional and behavioural disorders. It provides concrete, multi-sensory stimulation (auditory, visual, and tactile). Music therapy sessions support the development of skills such as:
        -release and exploration of emotions
        -listening to non-verbal and verbal communication
        -use of both gross and fine motor movements
        -sequential memory and recall of information
        -self-management of behaviour
        -verbal discussion active
        -improvised music making (using both instruments and voice)
        
        Some common practices in music therapy:
        
        Writing your own song lyrics
        
        Singing and dancing to your favourite song
        
        Playing an instrument
        
        Talking about music with others
        
        Producing musical beats and instrumentals
      - Sports/exercise, yoga
        Children with special needs can benefit from energy release and pure enjoyment through exercise therapy and sports. Just about any sport or activity can be altered to give children with special needs the cardiovascular, flexibility, and strength-training benefits that help stay healthy and fit. Some benefits are
        -Better overall fitness
        -Improved cognitive health
        -Better control of weight
        -Healthier bone density
        -Better emotional and psychological health
        -Improved social skills
        -Improved motor skills
        -More self-esteem
        -Reduced risk for diseases, such as diabetes
        
        Sports and activities especially good for children with special needs are:
        
        Swimming
        
        Bicycling
        
        Soccer
        
        Football
        
        Handball
        
        Gymnastics
        
        Boccia
        
        Weightlifting
      - Dance therapy is an excellent form of exercise and powerful form of therapy for children with disabilities because of its sensorimotor integration. Individuals with Autism, emotional, behavioural, mental health disorders and physical disabilities will benefit from dance therapy.
        Dance helps to improve balance, strength, muscle coordination, where the body is in space, sense of touch, and more.
        
        Strategies used in Dance Therapy
        
        Travel – Participants are encouraged to move across a room in any manner they choose in relation to a prompt the leader provides.
        
        Mirror – Allows participants the opportunity to observe their movements in full-length mirrors.
        
        Mirroring – Matching and echoing movements which can show empathy and validate feelings.
        
        Life’s Journey – The individual is asked to depict their life’s journey, from birth to where they want to be in the future in a series of movements.
        
        Simon Says – A movement-based activity allows a client to concentrate on and follow simple instructions or mimic the leader’s movements
        
        Movement Metaphors – Using a movement metaphor or prop can help you physically and expressively demonstrate a therapeutic challenge or achievement
        
        Student Example: We have a G3 student that is autistic. She has participated in ballet as an after school activity. It has shown to improve her coordination and self esteem. We do not have dance therapy available in our city but I believe she would benefit from it.
      - Creative writing and poetry therapy are forms of expressive arts therapy that uses poems, narratives and other spoken or written media to promote well-being and healing. Therapists might use existing literature or encourage those in therapy to create their own literary works as part of treatment. The goal of therapy is to offer a nonjudgemental environment for people to explore written expression and their associated emotional responses. Creative writing and poetry therapy can:
        -Provide an outlet for expressing emotions that might be difficult to express
        -Help therapists gain greater insight about their client
        -Promote self-exploration and reflection
        -Validating emotions and experiences when done in a group setting