Yoga for Dyslexia : Lydia Dring

I am most fortunate to work in a school with an exceptionally supportive attitude towards their dyslexic pupils. Last year I was able to conduct a project using yoga techniques with a small group of year 7 pupils (11-12yrs). As an experienced yoga teacher and specialist dyslexia teacher the potentials for using yoga to help dyslexics were very evident. The school is an inner city school with a large number of Pakistani Muslims and children with low academic self-esteem and aspirations. I called the sessions `Mind Matters' in order to be as inclusive as possible. We were able to meet for 30 minutes twice weekly before registration.

Symptoms
Specific Learning Difficulties (Spld) is more commonly known as “dyslexia”. As the official description makes clear, dyslexics experience difficulties in specific areas of cognitive functioning (rather than “global” learning difficulties). In the past they were often identified as a result of their baffling profile of abilities and weaknesses. Typically an individual with dyslexia can present a seemingly inexplicable range of symptoms showing talents and even giftedness in some areas and perplexing difficulties in others. Some of these difficulties often include:
Failure to acquire literacy skills commensurate with age and general ability.
Reversals of letters or sequences.
Difficulty with personal organization.
Poor ability to sequence ideas.
Forgetfulness (losing things and being unprepared).
Poor sense of direction and confusion over left and right.
Clumsiness
Being “lost for words” (expressive language).
Difficulties with rapid naming (finding the words).
Unable to follow instructions when given more than one at a time.
Slow processing of language based information (receptive language).
Inability to cut out distracting stimuli.
Low self-esteem (sometimes leading to aggressive, defensive and disruptive behaviour).
Very poor ability to multi-task

It is clear to see how a combination of these symptoms in a school or domestic situation could lead to all kinds of misunderstandings! Nowadays reliable psychological tests are available to diagnose the condition in children and adults of all abilities. Only the most ignorant continue to describe it as something dreamed up by the anxious, middle-class parents of dull children. The most evident symptom of dyslexia is an inability to acquire language skills to an acceptable level. Hardly surprising in a culture such as ours where literacy holds the key to so much.

Dyslexia is a fascinating condition to work with. As the many and often quoted celebrity personalities who were also dyslexic confirm, these processing difficulties are independent of intelligence. Dyslexia is not necessarily a handicap. In fact some employers now actively seek “compensated” dyslexics, valuing their creative abilities and capacity to think in “first principle” terms. An unusually high proportion of architects are dyslexic. Nevertheless, by the time many young people reach high school and beyond, without a diagnosis or appropriate help the “Scars of Dyslexia” can be utterly debilitating. I see young (usually boys) adolescents with IQ scores in the above and well above average range, utterly crushed by their endless failures to achieve the simplest tasks. Along with their peers, they have labelled themselves “stupid”.

Causes
The main cause is believed to be a manifestation of a problem with processing abnormalities in the brain. Brain imaging technologies confirm differences in brain function between dyslexics and “normal” brains. This abnormality affects phonological processing systems (hearing at the brain level) and the way these link to working memory. If there is a deficiency at the working memory loop of the process, passing information (especially language based information) into short term memory and then long-term memory is obviously compromised. Logically then, the reverse process of bringing stored information “to mind” is also impaired.Dyslexics experience great difficulties with phonological awareness. Discriminating between sounds, especially close sounds such as ‘n’ and ‘m’ or hearing rhyme for example is also difficult. The specialised teaching method to address these difficulties involves a highly structured, multi-sensory programme of learning.

Teaching Aims of the Yoga Classes
The main aim of the sessions was to raise academic performance through improving:
Concentration
Memory skills.
Rapid naming skills Multi-tasking Expressive and receptive vocabulary
Metacognitive awareness (insight into their own learning process) Self-esteem
Physical and mental well-being.

Teaching Objectives
In order to achieve these aims I decided to teach the children

- Sequences of asana in layers of complexity to develop areas of weakness

- Simple relaxation techniques
Palming , directed breathing, ujjayi – longer exhale

-Home practice routines

- Selected asana for challenge

- The need and opportunity for self-reflection.

The Class at Work

I began by inviting the children to try the sequences in their entirety. Facilitating the children to treat incompetence as a motivation is one of the joys of teaching, (especially when Miss – who is clearly ancient – can do it!). Getting the whole process to “glitter” sufficiently was important.

Naturally the children brought along their low self esteem to these classes too so lots of fun and encouragement was vital. I taught each posture of a sequence separately before adding it on. This meant that there would be an element of multi-tasking when they came to each posture within the sequence. It was also an opportunity to make increasingly greater demands on their depth of concentration.

As they physically mastered the sequences they counted the stages of the routine. (Even this level of multi-tasking proved difficult at first for some of the children). For the success of the project it was important that I “read” and responded sensitively to the learning readiness of the group. Getting the balance between building confidence in what has been learned and knowing when to progress is a large element of the art of teaching. Nevertheless, by the end of the project we had devised names for the asana and the pupils had to count, name and correctly adjust the postures in sequences of up to 18 separate asana. I also got the pupils to recite the alphabet as they worked through the sequences. Sometimes I changed the starting point so they would begin at “a” or “n”’. This met numerous of the teaching objectives. The ability to improve and speed up recall (rapid naming) is a core element to the teaching programme to help individuals with dyslexia. The yoga sequences provided a multi-sensory opportunity to practise this.

We had lots of opportunities to secure accurate left/right recognition. For this I drew on an ingenious idea which I had observed in a Special Needs Class for children at the Krisnamacharya Yoga Mandiram in Chennai when I was last there. Coloured bands were used initially to help the children identify left and right and I modified this when teaching the children I was working with. We had great fun following oral instructions with rapid sequences incorporating side and reverse trikonasana.

Improving working, short term and long term memory was also addressed through the regular and carefully structured development of the sequences of asana. The pupils were thrilled by their skills and were constantly inviting other staff in to marvel at their new abilities. Another technique involved “talking” the group through a sequence whilst they visualised it. This involved the children listening to and understanding (receptive language and concentration) a sequence of instructions (working and short term memory) with the support of imagination and visual memory.

As the pupils quickly became stronger and more flexible I could be more particular about the precision of the postures and the children’s familiarity with anatomical vocabulary improved. They were also eager to try new, challenging postures. They were particularly keen on Urdhva Dhanurasana, Ustrasana and Sarvangasana, all of which gave them a palpable sense of achievement and thus self esteem.

I encouraged discussion and feedback from the children and it was a pleasantly pain free experienced with “homework”. Of course there were numerous relatives to whom they could demonstrate their skills but most gratifyingly many of the children used the various breathing and relaxation techniques to support them out of school.

During “Mind Matters” we found time to discuss issues at the heart of yoga. Pupils were encouraged to analyse their own learning habits and recognise the kinds of things that get in the way of success (metacognition). I was able to offer a little insight into the nature of these obstacles and suggest strategies for recognising and channelling a restless mind. I was frankly astonished by the level of personal insight some of these pupils had into their own difficulties but who simply had no skills with which to address the issues. What do you do when you are eleven years old and having a bad day? I was fortunate to teach some of the children involved in other contexts such as in their English lesson or in giving specific help with Spld. With these children I was able to observe them putting their Yoga skills into practice.

I also persuaded most of the group that chocolate and crisps were a poor choice for breakfast!

Objective measurement of such a small scale and brief experiment would be impossible and I can only offer my impressions and observations. I certainly believe it is a marriage worth considering. I would like to express my gratitude to Edensor Technology College, as well as the children involved for turning up so early and regularly.

Lydia Dring