Parents of neuro-diverse children will often enroll their children in organized sports with greatest of intentions in the hope that it will assist them in developing social skills and to become more active and independent.
More often than not, particularly in the case of team sports, the experience can be traumatic for the neuro-diverse person, particularly if they are unsuccessful in the team sport in which they are enrolled. In competitive team sports they may be placed on the reserve bench in preference to more “capable” team mates who may provide the team with a greater chance at winning the competition.
This can result in a loss of resilience, lower self-esteem, and can create a greater reluctance to participate in any future activities.
Traditional martial arts classes tick many of the boxes for neuro-diverse participants, that are not found in many other physical activities or pursuits.
We provided a highly structured, yet flexible and individualized learning approach that is predictable and has few, if any hidden surprises.
(ASD Predictive Coding Theory https://www.spectrumnews.org/news/predictive-coding-theory-autism-explained/)
Our training program provides tangible measures of success through the awarding of different belts for skills gained, which are highly achievable for all participants and provide a sense of continuity and progression.
In assessing our students for the awarding of a new belt level, we do not compare them against their peers as this is akin to comparing apples with oranges, meaningless! Instead, we employ a more meaningful measure of assessment in which a student is rewarded by demonstrating continued improvement and acquisition of new skills.
We recognize that all students develop at different paces, some start off slowly, whilst others develop more quickly. Some students initially require more assistance whilst others require less.
We cater to all learning styles and welcome diversity within our classes.
Our curriculum is not only intellectually stimulating but provides great physical exercise for participants of all ages and abilities and helps to develop improved coordination and core-strength. Many neuro-diverse people struggle with associated poor core strength and coordination. Martial arts training helps to improve both core strength and coordination.
In addition to learning the practical aspects of self defense and in engaging in healthy physical exercise, many of the skills acquired by our martial arts students have life long applications. Our classes help our students to develop confidence, self-discipline, commitment, self-reliance and are very effective in assisting our neuro-diverse students to emotionally self-regulate.
Physical exercise is directly linked to a range of mental health benefits including a reduction in the severity of anxiety and depression experienced by many neuro-diverse people, and in our classes, this can be achieved in a non-competitive, comfortable and safe environment.
Many of our students achieve their first very successes in our martial arts classes. We have a high proportion of students who identify as neuro-diverse with many of these students achieving their black belt. Some of our neuro-diverse black belts have gone on to become instructors or assistant instructors within our school. A number of our students and families attribute our martial arts classes with improved concentration and better academic and professional outcomes.
There are a growing number of professionals (OT’s, Pediatricians, Psychologists and Educators) who are recognizing the benefits of enrolling neuro-diverse people in traditional martial arts schools.
If you have been considering whether to trial a martial arts class, or as a parent, whether to enroll your child in a martial arts class, we can highly recommend it!
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