Modifying Baby Massage Techniques for Children with Autism
Infant massage isn’t just for healthy newborns, but it can also be put into practice as massage therapy for children who have special needs. In particular, many studies have found that children with autism actually respond quite well to massage despite the fact that children with autism are generally averse to touch. Additionally, many children with autism thrive on the routine that regular massage can provide, which presents a continual opportunity for the parent and child to bond in a positive way.
If you have a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and are interested in trying out massage therapy, then you should learn how to do the strokes properly by taking accredited infant massage classes. That being said, the following points generally describe the modifications you will have to make when massaging your child.
Environment
As stated, children with autism often thrive on routine, which means the massage sessions should occur in a room your child is comfortable and familiar with. Similarly, light and noise may be an issue for your child, so since the massage requires a lot of touching to begin with, you should remove any other source of potential discomfort from the room.
Positioning
To keep your child feeling comfortable, you may have to change their massage positioning so that they can physically and emotionally distance themselves from you throughout the session. Either have your child lay on their abdomen, lay on their side or sit up throughout the duration of the massage. This not only helps them feel distanced, but also helps them avoid eye contact with you if they wish.
Modifications to the stroke sequence
There are a few ways you will want to modify the average baby massage sequence to ensure your child stays comfortable.
Children with autism often have very short attention spans, so it’s important that you respect your child’s needs and wants and only perform the massage strokes for a short period of time.
Keep open hands well away from your child’s face, and try not to engage in too much eye contact with them throughout the massage.
Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) don’t offer much in the way of responding to the permission sequence, so you’ll have to rely on your knowledge of what makes your child happy or unhappy.
Begin the session by massaging your child’s back first, as this allows more distance between you in the beginning. Then, you can progress the massage by moving to their legs and arms. Leave out any strokes involving the face, chest and abdomen initially because massaging these areas is far more intrusive for them. Only start introducing these areas to your routine when you feel like it would be well accepted by your child.
It has been found that, through massage therapy, children with autism become less touch-averse, are less distracted by sounds, are more attentive in class, have better relationships with their teachers, score better on the Autism Behaviour Checklist, and score better on the Early Social communications Scales. By learning the massage techniques and modifying them to suit your child, you can not only help to bring about these wonderful changes, but you will feel good knowing you can do something so positive for your child.