Exercise And How It Might Help Kids With Autism

I bet you didn't know that this month was National Autism Awareness Month. I wanted to find out if exercise could play a role in helping kids with autism. What I found out was that there is still debate on how much it could help autistic children, but it definitely isn't going to hurt.

Autism can have varying affects on children from mild to severe affections. So it is difficult to say how exercise will help the child, but the only way to find out is to try. Exercise and physical activity helps develop their motor skills, social development, and emotional maturity. But, like many kids nowadays it is very important to help them maintain their healthy weight and improve their coordination. Lack of physical activity is becoming all too common in all our kids whether they are autistic or not.

So here are a few tips to help get your autistic child acclimated to physical activity:

• Check with your doctor first, just in case there are limitations to what your child can or cannot do. The doc might even have some suggestions on what to start off with.

• Encourage the child to participate in activities that require a lot of body parts such as jumping rope, weight lifting (if old enough), or jumping on a trampoline. To improve balance and coordination try activities like swinging or cartwheels. Hand eye coordination and motor skills can be improved by playing catch or basketball.

• Exercise can help with emotional control as well. Choose activities that your child enjoys so it will be fun. Exercise has been known to be an anti-depressant of sorts because it raises your serotonin levels which makes you feel good and relaxed.

• Structure the exercises to the ability of the child and then build upon those successes. For each new hurdle accomplished, the child will be eager to try exciting new exercises.

My thought is like I stated earlier, which is more kids in general need to become more physically active. It will help them with their self confidence, paying more attention in class, keeping the weight off, and avoiding these health issues that are creeping up on them at an earlier and earlier age. But, for autistic kids it is that much more beneficial. I see no downside to them being active. Also, it will force you to be active as well because you will have to keep up with them. So maybe in the process, you will lose a few pounds. Is that so bad??