Several students at Iowa School for the Deaf are feeling the zen . . . of yoga, that is. This is the second year that three students who are deafblind have participated in a weekly yoga class, led by Renee Prochaska-Keenan, special education consultant, CBRO. As students practice basic yoga poses, they also benefit from its calming effects. "We start with body-to-body modeling" which is similar to hand-under-hand learning, helping students feel the right positioning of their bodies, Renee explains. "The poses are the goal, but the body's sensory needs are different for each student," she adds. Since growth is measured differently for each student, yoga is one way to measure progress. At the start of the week, each student is assigned a yoga symbol -- anything from tactile, text, line drawings, braille or something based on their demonstrated level of competency. Sometimes a symbol is combined with letters or braille to work toward a higher level of literacy. Literacy skills are demonstrated each time a student recognizes a symbol and then comprehension is demonstrated when a student acts upon the symbol's cue. Photo courtesy Iowa School for the Deaf
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