motion and learning (developed by Veronique Bure)

Gross motor activity and Learning

Are the increasing numbers of students impacted by learning disabilities directly linked to the higher proportion of sedentary activities imposed  on  young children ( 200 hours per year spent in car seat  in 1960 against 500 in  2002, endless  hours of television, video games, harnessed in  strollers and high chairs) Long gone are the days of walking or biking to school.

Amazingly, many of the first childhood memory are linked to transitions therefore, to motions: the path to the school, carrying a present for a parent, mastering hop scotch or tying one’ shoe.

Importance of organizing movements

Whole body motions (planning, controlling, responding) is a multi sensory experience.   Executing actions in response to inner perceptions ( proprioceptive information) or to outside stimuli   require integrating sensory information, planning and organizing a response involving,  at least in part,  motor action.   Living is planning actions, whether speaking, kicking a ball, taking a bite, writing, running, screaming or conducting a meeting.

What do movements trigger?

• All gross motor movements involve the use of the vestibular system which controls    body movements’ coordination, balance and equilibrium.  The vestibular system is linked to the auditory processing which in turn is instrumental in the acquisition of  language
• Most body motions involve eye body coordination.
• Movements increase the amount of oxygen and glucose exchanged in brain cells, in most areas of the brain.  This allows developing neural pathways connecting cerebral structures, and shaping physical brain structures through experience.
•  Regular and prolonged exercising enhances the formation, survival and connections of new brain cells. (In comparison to sedentary mice, the brains of mice that exercised had about 2.5 times more new nerve cells which allow a much higher flow of information. The exercise group showed better long term memory skills. Howard Hughes Medical Institute).
•  Organized movements seem to relieve stress. Stress impacts a brain structure called hippocampus which is involved in storing and processing information used in memory. As a result body motions allow better organizing, store and retrieving information.  Children with autism display a high level of stress
• Diminishing stress promotes a better capacity to focus, and strengthen attention to target tasks.  Exercising plays an important part in emotion regulation.
• Stress   depresses the immune system, exercising can boost immune responses.  
• Movements provide input on the muscles, joint and ligaments.  it requires and promotes regulation of multi sensory information.

Movements and cognition

Was Aristotle suffering from Attention Deficit Disorder?

Incapable of remaining seated, fidgeting with stress relieving balls made of dense lamb wool? Sweating heavily while debating, submerged by waves of passion and   boredom, in amphitheatres?   Sent in inescapable daydreams by specific voice tonalities?

 Why did he find clarity and meaning flowing for himself and his students while walking?

• Knowledge and movement are often linked; information acquired through or paired with movements is retained in much higher proportion than knowledge acquired passively
• Focusing, retrieving and storing information seem to be the positive outcome of exercising as the brain is more irrigated, oxygenated, and connected during prolonged motor activities

So Aristotle walked, taught and learnt while walking, and did not antagonize mind and body.

In summary:  Gross motor exercises help developing self awareness and relatedness with the environment, storing information, organizing motor planning, prioritizing actions, regulating affects.

How is movement execution impacted and impacting in children with ASD?

• Almost all children under the Autism Spectrum Disorder ( ASD) display a sensory regulation and motor control impairment.
• Most children with autism present a lack of fluidity in their movements, a rigid gait, a stiffness in their wrist, ankles and neck.   This peculiarity related to motions can be traced back early in the child growth. Infants do no turn to meaningful sounds, do not arch their body to be picked up, often predominantly use one side of their body and carry their head in a slightly bent position.
• Children with ASD often wander aimlessly as if incapable to put their body to a stop or to engage in organized movements.    
• Impaired capacity to move causes a lack of appropriate responses to the environment which further impacts the social emotional development of a child.
• Motor impairment impacts the capacity to produce speech which is a highly specialized movement production.

 Why is organized motion impaired in children with ASD?

- Is the lack of proper motor response aiming at diminishing unpleasant and aversive sensory input? 

- Does the difficulty in motor control cause the children to avoid certain movements and lower their motivation for moving?

- Does their disability first stem from impairment in motor planning, which shield them from exposure to meaningful social experience?

 It is somewhat difficult to decipher which comes first, a distorted labeling of stimuli/perceptions and/or the incapacity to turn to the right stimuli (or to execute relevant motor response), which increases her/his isolation and alters the capacity to understand her/his environment through experience for the infant.

 Teaching body control through body imitations:  Movements are part of each and every act of living.  Helping a child acquire functional motor control should be part of all educational and therapeutic approaches, targeting social skills and  communication.

Starting with large motions then expanding with exercises involving fine motor motions to build up the capacity to observe, imitate, plan and control motor response.  The last step involves promoting sounds production through imitation which requires control and awareness of breathing and lips, tongue jaws motions.  When the sound production is paired with a symbolic representation of the sound (what is means), the capacity to acquire verbal language is triggered.  

• Start with simple commands aiming at enhancing, in the child, the capacity to imitate body movements. Use  an object ( it makes the motion easier to control if the object amplifies the gesture and/or produces a sound linked to the motion) i.e. tapping sticks on a table, shaking maracas,  pushing balls or cars, stomping on colored circles on the floor,  activating cause and effect toys,).  Practice with both hands
• Imitations with body.   Simple gestures: clapping, stomping, kicking, arms motions, ( crossing, waving , flying, boxing), jumping, bouncing on balls,  rolling on floor, sliding, throwing, catching, spinning, managing stairs
• Practice walking, running, stopping, correcting feet and head position ( use music and model for and with the child) .

 Movements and language :  Body control will allow the child to acquire sign language, and therefore to understand that his own movements production   can be a tool to communicate.  Participating in organized gross motor motions relieves stress which allows better sensory regulation and attending skills.

• Consistently pair each sign with a sound.   Build up a repertoire matching your child‘s interest. Once your child has acquired over 10 signs and  with a lot of practice,  initializing  the movements might help trigger the sound related to the words they symbolize ( the memory of how to move the oral motor area in order  to produce sound, will be retrieved )
• Pair sound production with motions through songs, finger play
• Use language while moving, simple sounds/words pair with specific motions (e.g., counting while climbing stairs)

Movements and social skills:  Movement control is instrumental in developing appropriate eye tracking which is an important asset in play and other meaningful social interactions.  Play skills allow the child to develop the capacity to relate and interact with adults and peers in his environment.  Playing requires processing information and constant problem solving, all of which depend, on some degree, upon motor planning and control. 

• Allow different positions while interacting with your child, assuring the child’s body control does not require all his attention but facilitates his motor responses.  (Always have his/her back supported for long activities, his/her legs at 90 degree angle with the floor, feet on the floor if using a chair.)
• Have  the child lay on her/his stomach to do some activities
• Art activities can be done standing with  the media on a vertical surface
• Provide variety of postures, motions, settings along the day.
• When the capacity to imitate simple motions is acquired cover the child’s eyes for brief moment to allow better integration of other sensory information, (auditory, postural) and give simple command to execute (clap hands, touch head…)
• When your child demonstrates a lesser need to wander, target purposeful play   activities:  ball and balloon  play, building, obstacle course, car race, chase,  painting, coloring, pouring …
• Make each session short,  repeat the session frequently
• Don’t be discouraged, playing with a child with autism is, at first, frustrating and demanding. It requires a lot of exposure for the child to grasp the meaning of play but she/he will enjoy it once it becomes a  familiar  activity.

For parents

As autism takes a heavy toll on your energy, sleep, stamina and affect, exercising could tremendously help you.

 Even 10 minutes every day, taking the time for yourself, with yourself, for exercising will replenish your energy.  Take early morning walks, run, ride a bike, work out.

• Rhythmic movements are known to help the production of neurotransmitters especially those involve in the alleviation of depression (serotonin) and of melatonin which regulates the circadian cycle (sleep/awake cycle). 
• Melatonin secretion is enhanced by movements   while  exposed to day light
• Prolonged effort triggers the production of   endorphins and heightens the functioning of a reward system in the brain which makes you feel good.