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Sleep Disorder, Gastrointestinal Problems and Behaviour Problems Seen in Autism Spectrum Disorder Children and Yoga
Kumar Narasingharao1, Balaram Pradhan2, Janardhana Navaneetham3
1Research Scholar, Division of Yoga and Humanities, S-VYASA Yoga University , Bengaluru, Karnataka, India .
Insights
Yoga may help children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and their families manage behavioral and physiological issues. This non-invasive therapy benefits both children and parents, reducing stress and improving overall family well-being.
Area of Science:
- Neurodevelopmental Disorders
- Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Background:
- Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) presents with behavioral challenges and co-occurring physiological issues like sleep disturbances and gastrointestinal problems.
- These physiological issues in children with ASD can exacerbate daytime behavioral problems and cause significant stress for family members, particularly mothers.
- Parental stress associated with caring for children with ASD can increase susceptibility to non-communicable diseases.
Approach:
- This study explores the potential of yoga as a non-invasive, alternative therapy for individuals with ASD.
- The research investigates yoga's capacity to address both physiological and psychological aspects of ASD.
- Emphasis is placed on parental-based yoga interventions for holistic family benefits.
Key Points:
- Yoga offers a dual approach, positively impacting both the physical and mental well-being of individuals with ASD.
- Addressing sleep and gastrointestinal issues through yoga may lead to improvements in daytime behavior.
- Parental involvement in yoga intervention can enhance its effectiveness for the child and reduce caretaker stress.
Conclusions:
- Yoga presents a promising complementary therapy for managing ASD-related challenges.
- Parental yoga interventions can foster a healthier family environment and mitigate stress-related health risks for caregivers.
- Further research into yoga's efficacy for ASD and their families is warranted.
Abstract:
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder with deficiencies in many developmental milestones during the infantile childhood. Recent researches have shown that apart from behaviour problems, the ASD children also suffer from physiological conditions such as disturbed sleep and gastrointestinal problems that could be the contributing factors to their daytime behaviour problems. Lots of parents have expressed that, lack of sleep among the children have resulted in high levels of stress among the family members particularly among the immediate caretakers which are in most cases the mother of the child. Early behaviour intervention is a norm for ASD children which mainly affect the psychological level. Through this paper, an effort has been made to study the contributions made by yoga in order to mitigate such problems. Yoga is a non-invasive and alternative therapy that brings change in both physiological and psychological level of an individual. High levels of stress among the caretakers of these children could make them susceptible to non-communicable diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, arthritis etc. Parental based yoga intervention can be more effective for both children and parents and subsequently to the entire family.
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