Dance concepts and cultural significance

Dance Therapy to Help an Autistic Child Communicate

Twenty years ago, 14 in 10,000 children suffered from autism and related disorders. Currently, the number totals four times as many children, six in 1,000. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, four times as many boys as girls are likely to be suffer with autism, generally diagnosed by age 3.

Although no cure currently exists for autism, with therapy (and, in some instances medication), some individuals with this disorder obtain independence; attend college; get married and have families. "Others remain trapped by their symptoms, which can often include self-destructive behaviors like head-banging or hand-flapping." (Lamas)

Personal Accounts Donna Rosinski's son Alex, was diagnosed with autism when he was 8-year-old. Rosinski wrote in 2001: "His differences were brought forcefully to our attention by his nearly being expelled from nursery school."

Alex can speak but seldom spoke at school. During his play time, Alex lined up his toy cars and signs in one place, and then he would meticulously line them up in another place. Alex's else poor social skills alienated him from other children, as sometimes he would grab or code other children. At 8 years old, Alex, however looked, spoke and acted similar to other, "normal" 8-year-olds. What worked to help Alex, Rosinski states, along with having an older brother who was in a sense, a 24-hour-a-day peer model who loves him and plays with him, he also had therapists who invested in his progress. An occupational therapist taught Alex to dress himself. A physical therapist taught Alex how to catch a ball and pedal a tricycle. A speech therapist also worked with him. "Peer modeling," Rosinski stresses, "is very powerful!" As Alex regularly participated in therapeutic group sessions, he along with other children learned how to serve themselves during snack times, learned appropriate manners, and began to engage in conversation. Occupational therapy, sports therapy and dance therapy, as well as a number of therapies such as Alex experienced to help him reach the point of being considered "normal," are not miracles, as Rosinski attests. When she talks about the miracle of Alex's progress, of miracles, she makes a point to also explain the hard work that helped the miracle materialize. Stephen Shore wrote a book about his "miracle related to autism entitled, Beyond the Wall: Personal Experiences with Autism and Asperger Syndrome. Shore was diagnosed with autism when he was 2 1/2 years old.

He explains that autism, a neurobiological condition may range from severe to mild and that some individuals with autism "develop secondary psychological problems because of these biological issues." Shore stresses that although education and therapy frequently help autistic individuals learn how to live with and cope with the disorder, interventions do not cure autism, as no known cure currently exists. A child with severe autism may display eight behaviors generally associated with autism. he/she may isolate him/her self away from others, be non-communicative, "easily agitated, and possibly prone to tantrums or self-abusive behavior." Autistic children are not usually able to appropriately engage in their environment. They also experience difficulty maintaining awareness of the environment and/or handling any changes. Children in the middle of the autism spectrum also regularly display these classic behaviors. (Stephen Shore) Children in the middle range, albeit usually know and prefer their caregivers' company over others, however children at the severe end of autism may experience challenges recognizing their own family members. Asperger Syndrome, which represents the greatest number of individuals with autism, ranks at the high-functioning end of the autism. Many children with Asperger's function well intellectually and verbally. By today's standards, Shore states, he would have been considered to have Asperger's. By the time Shore turned six years old, after regularly attending private classes and therapy; he had regained most of his language and began attending kindergarten in a public school. As his school performance improved, by time he entered the sixth grade, shore passed most of the other students in his class. Shore contends that as autistic children routinely encounter a number of sensory distortions, their learning environments frequently confuse and frustrate them. Because manipulating objects can soothe a person when he/she becomes stressed, some autistic youth may possibly benefit from using stress-reducing fidget toys (e.g., squeeze balls) to help regulate the senses during tense periods. In addition, as movement helps some students stay connected with their environment, structured opportunities for movement, such as those utilized in dance; prove beneficial to all to autistic children. (Stephen Shore) Dance Therapy "Dance therapy n. A form of psychotherapy in which clients or patients are encouraged to express their feelings and inner conflicts through dance." (Colman) Hoban refers to dance as "a basic expression of emotion."

She stresses that an individual's "exposure to dance and movement begins in infancy," nothing that dance is may be enjoyed by a person from the time he/she is a baby, through his/her years as a toddler, teen and adult, even during a person's older years. "The function of dance is communication," Hoban states, "It comes from the depths of man's inner nature, the unconscious, where memory dwells." Lenore Wadsworth Hervey, PhD, ADTR, NCC, purports that dance/movement therapy serves as "a form of psychotherapy that uses movement or dance as a primary vehicle for communication." He states that is proves particularly positive in working with individuals who experience physical limitations, and communication problems. As the dearth of communication constitutes autism, and communication is reported to be a primary function of debts, dance therapy makes sense as an appropriate way treat the disorder. Rena Kornblum, a therapist, who utilizes dance therapy in her work with children, mixes Mtechniques from play, meditation and dance in her sessions. Youth Kornblum works with regularly "dance out" parts in scenarios such as the following (Henry):

Animal Babies: Working in pairs, one student is the newborn animal, the other the parent, responsible for teaching the baby how to travel, find food and survive danger. This is one of several "mirroring" exercises designed to teach students empathy.

Spaceship and Aliens: A large circular stretch cloth becomes a spaceship, in which the children and instructors fly to a distant planet, describing the sights along the way. Sometimes they get out and encounter alien beings (in individual stretch sacks), whom they get to know using the nonthreatening approaches they have learned in dance therapy. Children take turns playing alien, astronaut and observer, and class discussion focuses on the issue of prejudice.

Making Waves: Students form a circle around the outside of the large stretch cloth, gripping the edge with their hands. As an exercise in group unity, they practice making waves in the same way as their peers in terms of speed, direction, etc. This can also be an exercise in leadership and following, as children take turns controlling the size and intensity of the waves as the rest of the class mirrors their motion.

Although not specifically related to dance therapy, the point Michael Linton makes in regard to music does relate. "Action is a function always of the will, and while music may prod, and it may suggest, it cannot force," Linton, head of the Division of Music Theory and Composition at Middle Tennessee State University (10), emphasizes, as he writes about "The Mozart Effect." Even aside from dance as an accompaniment, music reportedly possesses an array of positive powers. Music reportedly can: "cure backache. And asthma. And obesity, writer's block, alcoholism, schizophrenia, prejudice, heart disease, drug addiction, headaches, and AIDS. It makes bread rise better and improves the taste of beer. It can even make you smarter...."

Dance and other types therapy, albeit do not embrace such exorbitant claims. Kasser, Collier, and Solava purport that developing fundamental movements are vital whether a child has disabilities or not, as "inactivity negatively affects developing children in many ways, especially their physical health."

Justifications noted for including sport-related skills also appear applicable to dance therapy, including but not limited to:

Motivation. One justification for including sport-related skills is motivation. This is especially important when we consider that children with disabilities may be difficult to motivate....The more they are motivated to participate, the more likely children with physical and/or cognitive disabilities are to improve their motor development. Compared to their nondisabled peers, individuals with disabilities often have to spend considerable time learning an activity before it becomes intrinsically rewarding....

Functional and Age-Appropriate Skills.... Although physical therapy often may consist of one-on-one instruction, the practice and reinforcement of age-appropriate sport skills in this setting can assist these youngsters in developing typical play skills....

Practice in Multiple Environments. Reinforcing or practicing skills in multiple settings strengthens student learning and increases the chance that learning will be maintained over time and generalized across items, people, and environments.... This will increase the likelihood that learning and skill development will be maintained and generalized. (Kasser, Collier, and Solava)

Parents whose autistic children turn their lives upside down might turn to a movement therapist for help," Heidi Splete proposes in: "Dance therapy helps in coping with autism." Suzi Tortora, Ed.D.,a certified movement analyst and dance therapist contends that when a parent or caregiver understands his/her child's nonverbal expressions, he can more effectively help them improve their socialization, as well as manage their tantrums.

In her therapy sessions, Dr. Tortora implements dance therapy to mirror the type and emotional quality of an autistic child's movements. This helps the child relate to her instead of reverting into hi/her private, inner world. This tactic includes riding out a tantrum, using movement to remain nonverbally connected. In turn, this will help that shall begin to learn to communicate and remain connected, consequently regaining control of him/herself. "The key is that children with autistic spectrum disorder have a difficult time relating," Dr. Tortora explains. "They are idiosyncratic in their movements. They are sensorially over- or understimulated, and they can quickly escalate to a place of total body dysregulation." (Splete) From "Out" to in Sync Dance/movement therapy helps autistic children who are "out of sync" not only with others involved in their lives, but who also experience problem connections between their bodies and emotional selves, by helping restore that connection/rhythm. Hoban notes benefits to include helping autistic children improve their interactions with others; promote self-expression; help alleviate depression. Hoban also explains that in dance/movement therapy, even movements are considered important and deemed an evocative form of self-expression. Styles of dance movement therapy may include, among a number of others: