Students with Developmental Disabilities
Teachers are encouraged to proactively consider the suitability of the program for their students with developmental disabilities. If listening to the Audio Lesson & Meditation in the classroom environment is deemed unsuitable for your students with disabilities, please consider this idea - recruit a Mindful Student Ambassador.
A Mindful Student Ambassador is a student volunteer who has listened to the program either at home or at school and who you have identified as possessing the necessary leadership skills to work one-on-one with the identified student. This might be an older student from another classroom. The following are some recommended activities a Mindful Student Ambassador could do with the student of interest. These activities are preferably conducted outside of the student’s regular classroom environment while his/her classmates are listening to the audio lesson & meditation:
Listen to the Audio Lesson & Meditation in an environment that is free of the distraction of other students
Mix rice and beans on a large paper plate, ask the student to close his/her eyes, and use the fingers to separate the rice and beans into separate piles
Quietly colour a picture of the animal of the week
Create with the student a calming glitter jar. Fill a clear recycled water bottle with glycerin oil and 1 - 2 teaspoons of glitter (preferably of different sizes and colours). Use the jar as a helpful mediation aid. Ask the student to shake the jar, which will act as a snow globe, and then set the jar on a solid surface and together watch the glitter settle to the bottom of the jar. Ask the student how this exercise feels in the mind and body.
Go for a Mindful Walk with the student and ask him/her to do the following: spot something he/she has never noticed before; look for specific colours on objects or in the environment, and then switch to a different colour and continue mindful exercise; look for certain letters or numbers on the school walls; notice feelings/sensations in the feet when walking slowly.
Perform a Bell Listening Exercise using a singing bowl bell. Ask the student to close his/her eyes and sit quietly with his/her hands in his lap. Gently ring the bell for the student and ask the student to raise his hand in the air when he can no longer hear any sound coming from the bell. Repeat. Ask the student how this exercise feels in the mind and body.
Please contact a Mindful Parents & Kids representative if you feel we can be of assistance.