Stretching for Success: The Rewards of Stretch, Balance and Breathe for Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), Dyspraxia and Neurodivergencies.
Are you seeking a holistic approach to support your child’s development?
Has your child’s occupational therapist suggested that they need help with their motor planning, control or skills?
Does your child want to exercise but can’t because of varying sensory requirements?
Our Stretch, Balance and Breathe therapy program may be what you have been looking for.
Stretch, Balance and Breathe at Ampersand Allied Health in Melton has been meticulously designed by a neurodivergent osteopath to help children access the clinical therapeutic benefits of stretching, balancing, and breathing exercises. This program can enhance motor control, and motor planning while creating a supportive sensory environment tailored to neurodivergent needs. Adaptable for children with diverse requirements, it aims to improve overall physical health and wellbeing.
Outlined below is a guide as to how our program, Stretch, Balance and Breathe can help your child. It utilises the philosophy and scientific study of osteopathy to improve proprioception, physical coordination, core engagement and physical strength. By creating a sensory friendly setting and encouraging self-acceptance, it may help with overall anxiety or emotional regulation. Parents and caregivers are often involved, either directly in class or by gaining access to created educational material, allowing for the continued practice of this therapy at home.
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Proprioception is often referred to as our "sixth sense" and it's what helps us know where our body parts are without having to look at them. This sense is key for all the things we do every day, like walking, picking things up, or even just standing still without falling over. It works through special sensors in our muscles, joints, and tendons that get activated when we move or stretch.
However, some children with DCD and dyspraxia as well as in children with neurodivergences such as autism and ADHD struggle to integrate this sensory input, which can make it hard for them to use this sense properly. They might not be able to tell how much force to use when doing tasks like writing or catching a ball, which can lead to accidents like bumping into things, dropping things, or being labelled as “clumsy“. These children might find it especially tough during activities that need a lot of coordination, like sports or playing musical instruments.
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Stretch, Balance and Breathe is a therapy program designed around increasing the brains capacity for processing proprioceptive information. By performing a series of stretches, balancing and movement exercises, children can improve their body awareness and control, which not only helps them in everyday activities but also helps to boost their overall physical health and well-being. By engaging in stretching, balancing and movement exercises, children are not just being active and building on their proprioception, they are also enhancing their sensory pathways.
The balancing portion of Stretch, Balance and Breathe has been designed to help the developing brain of children get better at integrating different types of sensory information like touch, sight, spatial awareness and balance, all at the same time. This practice strengthens the brain areas involved in coordinating movement, postural control and motor planning, which can help to improve how children move and interact with their surroundings.
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Your core is more than having a six-pack, or your stomach muscles. Your core includes the muscles around your lower back, hips, pelvic floor and diaphragm. In Stretch, Balance and Breathe, many of the movements and static positions require your child to keep their back straight and their body balanced. This practice helps to train the core muscles to keep their spine upright, improving overall posture and helps to prevent slouching over school desks.
The core acts as the stabilising centre of the body. When your child’s core is strong and stable, you create a fantastic foundation from which the rest of the muscles in the body can work. Our osteopathy-based exercise program uses balancing exercises to engage the core muscles, making it work harder to keep your child’s body steady and upright, which helps to build strength in these muscles.
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As you are starting to see, our Stretch, Balance and Breathe program uses gentle movements and stretches to improve flexibility, strength and balance. These movements and stretches help to improve proprioception in children, in turn, helping them to develop better motor control, coordination, body awareness and strength, which are essential for daily activities, participating in sport, play, school and overall physical health.
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Breathing exercises are a fundamental practice of Stretch, Balance and Breathe as it has been shown that deep breathing helps to calm your nerves and helps you to relax. Children with autism and ADHD often experience heightened anxiety and sensory overload.
When you take slow, deep breaths it helps to activate the “rest and digest“ portion of our nervous systems, rather than the “fright and flight“ system that anxiety thrives on. Having specific deep breathing techniques can also help to shift your child’s focus; by focusing on breathing rather than thoughts it can provide a way to feel less anxious. These practices equip children with effective tools to manage anxiety wherever they are, allowing for a calmer state of mind, encouraging better emotional regulation.
Designed and inspired by our neurodivergent children.
Created for yours.
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We prioritise creating a sensory-friendly environment that accommodates the varying requirements of children with autism and ADHD, whether it is by encouraging fidgeting or movement between stretches or balancing movements, listening to catchy music and playing faster movement and stretching games, or having a calm, soft, low light, low noise environment to help reduce sensory overload, ensuring a safe, comfortable space for all participants.
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Whilst this does not technically fall within the Osteopathic scope of practice, it falls within the scope of being a neurodivergent role model. Children with DCD, dyspraxia or neurodivergences can often feel left out, picked on or bullied, leaving them feeling as though they wish they were different.
At Ampersand Allied Health, our practitioners embrace all of their quirks and unique qualities - it’s those parts of us that led us to create this for you and your child. A core value of Ampersand Allied Health is the fostering of self-acceptance and resilience. We aim to teach children to embrace themselves as they are, promoting a positive self-image and creating emotional resilience. This approach can be especially empowering for neurodiverse children as it can help them navigate life’s challenges with greater ease and confidence.
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Our Stretch, Balance and Breathe group therapy classes are small enough for children to not feel overwhelmed and overstimulated, but large enough to practice and enhance their communication and social skills through group activities and structured social interactions. These allow children to build confidence and develop positive social behaviours in a fun and engaging way in a supportive, nurturing setting.
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We recognise the essential role of parents or caregivers in children’s health and so you are invited to stay and watch the therapy session. Educational resources and guidance will also be provided to you. This collaborative approach ensures that the benefits of Stretch, Balance and Breathe extend beyond the therapy room, enhancing the overall impact on your child’s life.
