WAG Incredible Gym Story

[coachmolly]

I saw this posted on Facebook and had to share. A great reminder in the midst of meet-season craziness how great gymnastics can be for everyone. It's about a 12 year old with Autism who used gymnastics as therapy and has gone on to compete. She's currentlt a level 5/6- super exceptional for anyone!
[video=youtube;4yv8YehtHgc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yv8YehtHgc&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/video]

 

[gwenmom]

That's is so awesome. Good for her! And good for her parents!

 

[mylittlemiss]

That is such an amazing and sweet story! So happy to hear about it! Thanks for sharing.

 

[fliptwisttwirl]

Wow yes, very amazing story. I just started giving a little autistic girl private lessons and this puts it in a different perspective for me, thank you very much!

 

[Amusibus]

Thank you for posting this. My 7 year old daughter is "on the spectrum". She is finishing up pre-team soon, and it is nice to see stories of others like her who have been successful in this sport. I watch her sometimes, and I admit I have my moments when I doubt that this whole gym team thing is going to work out... she can be so distractible, and her effort level so variable. But when she does tune in and try hard, what she does looks beautiful. I have to remind myself that if the coaches believe in her, I should too. This video was good inspiration for us.

 

[gymdog]

I've heard of a few other kids with ASD in competitive gymnastics, and I've known a few who have some neurological differences. For some kids the ability to analyze certain things is actually helpful. But because of the neurological factors, there are often motor patterns that are dysfunctional or delayed. Gymnastics at any level is a great activity to improve cognitive functioning and sensory motor integration.

And her therapy has been very successful. I was expecting to see certain things and I really didn't. I don't mean that in a disbelieving way, just saying it is a great outcome in terms of her potential and the success of her therapy.

 

[Gymchick]

This is so sweet I'm glad our favorite sport has actually helped people!

 

[cbone]

I always get extra emotional when I'm sick. I'm sick now and I was fighting back tears. Great kid.

 

[Amusibus]

Gymdog, what things were you expecting to see?

 

[CoachGoofy]

I have had quite a few athletes with ASDs & similar neurological cooties (and...well...I'm not exactly neurotypical myself). And it always makes. my. life. to see how much they can shine in gymnastics.

 

[gymdog]

Gymdog, what things were you expecting to see?

Nothing in particular. I don't really like the term high-functioning, but lacking any other descriptor I'll say that most of kids I work with aren't considered high functioning by the standard measurements (doesn't mean they have cognitive impairments) so some things are a matter of perspective to me (although I also work with neurotypical kids, I separate a lot). That said her therapy has been very successful and no doubt gymnastics has helped greatly. I definitely believe that.

I have also worked with a kid on team with an ASD diagnosis. It was very apparent and the child was virtually non-verbal in that environment (did have verbal skills but literally never said a word in the gym) and had obvious stimming behaviors (but still very "high" as we would say). I also have a child in a mainstream class right now and they are able to do intermediate skills, better than average. So actually it is very attainable for a child, in any case, I believe that. But many children with neurological conditions have dysfunction when it comes to movement. They may have visual or auditory problems that seriously affect their orientation and spatial perception. Muscle tone issues. At yet some of the kids I've seen achieve a higher level have overcome those with successful early intervention and then early introduction to gymnastics to achieve a higher skill level than average. Gymnastics type movements are truly a great activity and probably the best thing you could do.

 

[Amusibus]

My daughter does have muscle tone issues- she tends to be floppy, has trouble staying tight. is that part of it? And trouble listening to verbal direction but is ok with visual demonstrations. In lots of other situations she has very little eye contact and speech, but no problems in the gym. She loves her coach and is very comfortable with her- part of why I'm nervous about her moving up. Change is not an Asperger kid's favorite thing.

 

[gymdog]

My daughter does have muscle tone issues- she tends to be floppy, has trouble staying tight. is that part of it? And trouble listening to verbal direction but is ok with visual demonstrations. In lots of other situations she has very little eye contact and speech, but no problems in the gym. She loves her coach and is very comfortable with her- part of why I'm nervous about her moving up. Change is not an Asperger kid's favorite thing.

Muscle tone issues are extremely common in kids with neurological disorders because it's essentially a "signalling" issue. Tone doesn't refer to the strength in the muscle, but the passive state of the muscle's resistance. Issues with reflex and sensory integration are also generally noted in children on the spectrum. Verbal directions are hard for many kids, I do visual demonstrations for everything for pre-team. If I have to I get an older kid to come and demonstrate.

 

[Amusibus]

You have done your homework, Gymdog. This stuff is not common knowledge, even for me, a mom of TWO girls with Asperger's and ADHD, and a chiropractor... who reads a lot. My gymnast daughter does not have sensory integration issues, but her big sister does, big time. I don't know what you mean by reflex issues. I also did not realize that hypotonicity was common to Asperger's. Lack of coordination, yes, heard of that. She also has a fine motor delay of about two years, but luckily that is not really relevant to her gymnastics.

 

[gymdog]

You have done your homework, Gymdog. This stuff is not common knowledge, even for me, a mom of TWO girls with Asperger's and ADHD, and a chiropractor... who reads a lot. My gymnast daughter does not have sensory integration issues, but her big sister does, big time. I don't know what you mean by reflex issues. I also did not realize that hypotonicity was common to Asperger's. Lack of coordination, yes, heard of that. She also has a fine motor delay of about two years, but luckily that is not really relevant to her gymnastics.

Reflex integration is very complex and I am not an expert by any means. It is an extremely exciting/fascinating field (to me, anyway). If you want to learn more, the leading researcher in the field is Masgutova, who developed the "MNRI" method.

As far as lack of coordination, this seems like the way a casual observer would describe reflex and sensory integration problems. It doesn't just refer to the inability to tolerate certain sensations, also can refer to motor patterns. Since ASDs are neurological conditions, it's not uncommon to see strong examples of these things. It would generally be one of the criteria for a diagnosis nowadays, I am not a neurologist or a developmental pediatrician needless to say but usually delays need to be observed across multiple areas for a positive diagnosis. Fine motor issues can be affected by muscle tone as well, but gymnastics should help in some ways at least because bars is going to build more strength and control in her hands which hopefully will translate to better fine motor skills.