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Post about exercise and the benefit for autism
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about exercise and how it seems to affect Kayla’s mood, behavior and speech. I’ve always known it is beneficial to me. I would be a crazy person without it I’m sure. I’m really learning now what massive impact it has on my daughter. First, I need to recap what was going on. This is a Facebook post of mine from October 2014:
Kayla has been struggling in the mornings going to school. She’s young and autism makes transition and changes difficult. It had been getting worse and harder and harder to send her. Last week she said, “I just want to run to my class.” We had been late and made a mad dash for her class line a few days before. It gave me an idea. What if instead of driving to school – we ran to school? She’s 5, but she has tons of energy and school is close enough. Last Friday we gave it a try. We got to school out of breath, but she went right up to the line with her rosy cheeks full of smiles. We did it again Monday and Tuesday. No problems dropping her off and a happy kid when I pick her up. Actually, she was quite beaming and proudly grabbed her teachers hand.
This morning we were running late and drove to school instead. Guess what? She was sad and cried for her dad to go with her to class. Kids need exercise and nutrition just as much as we do! We underestimate what it does for us and our kids. To me, being a ViMom and the Active Champion doesn’t mean much if I don’t do the same for my family. Set your goals and include your family! It’s more powerful than you think!
While traditional kindergarten ended up not being the best choice for her, I am still convinced beyond a doubt that this kid has to exercise. Over the last few weeks we haven’t gone to the park or a run. It’s cold. I’m a wimp for the cold. Therefore, we haven’t gone out. You know what else changed? Her stutter started up again after it had stopped when we started homeschooling and some odd behaviors came out of nowhere. Today I read more articles about the brain and exercise. I really think there is something to this. We went for a walk today. Yes, we walked in the cold, and it was awesome! I am going to continue our exercise to see what impacts it may have on her. My hope is that the stutter will stop once again! Her therapists are all taking data on her disfluencies so we will definitely know if there’s a change. I’m excited to see what is to come. I will share whatever results we have!
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