Yoga For The Special Child

Program Description

Yoga for the Special Child®, LLC is a comprehensive training program that provides the essential tools for working with children with special needs. Using hands-on and video instruction, Sonia (Sivakami) Sumar, guides program participants through each stage of the special child’s development.

An integrated series of balanced Yoga poses to increase body awareness, strength and flexibility

Specialized breathing exercises and relaxation techniques to improve concentration and reduce hyperactivity

An early intervention program to assure the healthy formative development of infants and toddlers

Prerequisites

This course is available to anyone with an interest in working with this population, including but not limited to yoga therapists, instructors and students, health care practioners, and families of special children.

Curriculum

This comprehensive training program provides the essential tools for working with children with special needs. Using hands-on and video instruction, Sonia (Sivakami) Sumar, guides program participants through each stage of the special child’s development.

Topics include:

How to evaluate infants and children

How to create the optimum home environment

How to work with specific syndromes and disorders

The one-week certification program incorporates the following:

Specific techniques for evaluating infants and children

The different components of interacting and bonding with infants/children

The components of Yoga Therapy

The description of the physiological/psychological benefits

The four stages of development:

Preparatory Stage (birth - 6 months)

Inductive Stage (6 months - 1 year)

Interactive Stage (1 - 2 years)

Imitative Stage (2 - 3 years)

Videos and/or working with children 3 – 12 years old

Contra-indications

Relaxation techniques

Yoga for adolescents and young adults

Challenge of adolescents

Consultation with parents

About the Trainer

Sonia Sumar is internationally renowned for her pioneering work using Yoga therapy with special children. She is the founder and director of Yoga for the Special Child in Sarasota, Florida and in Brazil, where she has achieved remarkable results working babies and children with Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Microcephaly, Autism and other developmental disabilities. She travels extensively, conducting workshops and training programs throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, Oceania and South America. She is also the author of the book Yoga for the Special Child®,LLC which is translated into English, Portuguese and Chinese while Dutch and Spanish versions will be forthcoming soon.

Yoga For The Special Child
Teacher Training

Yoga for the Special Child®, LLC training programs offer a unique learning environment for children and their parents, special education teachers, Yoga teachers and health care professionals. Courses are taught by internationally renowned Yoga therapist and author Sonia Sumar, whose innovative teaching methods have been improving the lives of children with special needs for more than 30 years.