A Critical Analysis of Yoga's Impact on Students with Autism

This report provides a comprehensive critique of an article exploring the effects of yoga on students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The critique analyzes the article's introduction, methodology, and findings, focusing on the Get Ready To Learn (GRTL) yoga program. It examines the article's aim, style, techniques, assumptions, and the evidence used to support its claims. The report also evaluates the structure of the work, the key ideas and theories discussed, and the authors' conclusions. The student highlights the study's strengths, such as its qualitative design and the positive perspectives of students, while also acknowledging limitations like the confined population. The report concludes with an assessment of the article's objectivity and the effectiveness of its approach in investigating the relationship between yoga and autism within an educational context, thereby contributing to the understanding of yoga's potential benefits for students with ASD.

ASSIGNMENT 2

Table of Contents
Part A: Critique of the article.....................................................................................................3
Introduction............................................................................................................................3
Reason for selecting this article..............................................................................................3
Summary.................................................................................................................................3
Critical evaluation of the article.............................................................................................4
Conclusion..............................................................................................................................7
Part B: Reflection.......................................................................................................................7
References..................................................................................................................................9
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Part A: Critique of the article
Introduction
Autism includes a wide range of conditions, which include social skills, challenges in
speech and others. Yoga is a promising therapy that helps in addressing the symptoms
of autism. The main argument of the selected article is yoga has a proper impact on
the lives of students suffering from Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Criticizing the
article can help to explore the topic in-depth and proper knowledge can be gathered
through it. Moreover, it can help to conduct any future research in this subject area.
This gathered knowledge can also be applied in my professional teaching services.
Selected article: Milton, L.E., Bantel, S., Calmer, K., Friedman, M., Haley, E. and
Rubarts, L., 2019. Yoga and Autism: Students’ Perspectives on the Get Ready To
Learn Yoga Program. The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy, 7(4), pp.1-10.
Reason for selecting this article
This article is chosen because; here a link between yoga and autism is established
properly. Moreover, being a teacher I noticed that merging yoga with formal
educational processes has given major success. Besides, this study has adopted
qualitative design, which has helped the researchers to conduct in-depth analysis of
the topic. Hence, much information about the area of the topic can be retrieved and
critically analyzed. The data collection method of this article is to provide firsthand
experience of yoga to the participants and then conduct an interview regarding this
experience. This has helped the researchers to eliminate biases that influenced me to
choose this article for critique.
Summary
The purpose of this research article is to evaluate perspectives of students after the
implementation of GRTL (Get Ready To Learn) yoga program. For this research, the
main population of study was students suffering from ASD. It can be seen that the
center for disease control and prevention (CDC) stated that this disease impacts 1 out
of 59 children (Milton et al. 2019). It was also noticed that this number has increased
in the past decade. Hence, it is essential to find a way that can remove or minimize the
challenges, which occur due to ASD. Another essential objective of the research is to
analyze the benefit that ASD affected students after the yoga program. This can help
to understand the effectiveness of yoga in reducing impacts of autism. Qualitative
research design was selected for examining the perspectives of selected students. This
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method has facilitated interacting properly with the students and gathering maximum
information from them. Semple (2019) also stated that ample amounts of information
can be gathered with the help of this research design. Moreover, ethical considerations
were maintained while conducting the research. Consent forms were signed from the
patients of participants. Moreover, a certified yoga instructor was present during the
procedure of the GTRL yoga program. Hence, the students were instructed properly
about the poses and breathing techniques. Besides, participants were given full
freedom to leave the interview process when they felt and audio files were destroyed
after transcription to maintain security.
A positive response was seen among students as they feel yoga has helped them to
feel focused and calm. Moreover, they think it is easy to perform at home, which can
increase their self-efficacy. Thus, the result indicates positive perspectives of students
regarding yoga, which can increase their performance skills. However, it can be seen
that the study is confined to a selected population, which is a limitation and requires
further research.
Critical evaluation of the article
Presentation and aim of the article
Aim of an article provides an idea of the purpose of conducting the research. Milton et
al. (2019), the creators of this article, have investigated the interconnection between
autism and yoga. The aim of this journal was to evaluate different perspectives of
students with autism about yoga. The authors have mentioned that their purpose was
to evaluate the perception of students with autism under the age group of 10 to 14,
who have taken part in getting Ready To Learn (GRTL) yoga program. Goldberg
(2013) has mentioned that Yoga therapy helps teachers to teach many skills to
children with autism. However, it needs to be proven with the help of evidence. This
study has presented the entire work objectively. The authors have not considered
personal opinions, perspectives, and emotions during this study. Rather, they have
implemented the GRTL Yoga Program to collect data based on real experience of
participants. The aim has been achieved by analyzing the collected data and
generating a reliable outcome.
Effectiveness of style and techniques used in the article
The authors have found that limited resources are available that can shed light on the
perspective of students with ASD who have taken part in yoga programs. Due to this
reason, they decided to conduct a yoga session with 7 male students with ASD and
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recorded their opinions after that session. Vidyashree et al. (2019) have considered
similar techniques and styles in their research. They also have conducted yoga
training for participants with ASD to get reliable data. Relying on the observation and
real evidence has helped authors of this chosen journal to get a reliable outcome. They
got to know that students with ASD, are preferring and enjoying yoga sessions. It
means that yoga is motivating them to be happy and graceful.
Assumptions
The authors of this article had the assumption that yoga has different therapeutic
effects on diverse populations. However, this assumption has not affected this study
as the authors have preferred to present the work objectively. Another assumption was
that yoga is effective for students. This assumption was developed after reviewing
present literature on this topic. Milton et al. (2019) have found that several authors
have mentioned about the importance of yoga for students. From this point, the
authors started thinking about the effect of yoga on students with ASD. The result of
data analysis can prove that these assumptions are correct. Participants have stated
that yoga is helping them to be focused. They are feeling calm and happy after the
yoga session. It means that yoga is a good technique that can be acquired for
motivating students with autism and it can help teachers to teach them different skills.
On the other hand, authors of this selected article have influenced others not to allow
their assumptions to impact on the validity of the outcome. In the article by Litchke et
al. (2018), it has been found that these authors also prevented the impact of their
assumptions on validity by analyzing practical data.
Evidence Used in the article
In this article, different authentic evidence was used for supporting the research
process. This includes survey data of national health interview surveys. This survey
result marks yoga as one of the most popular methods of mind and body refreshments.
Moreover, information from the National Health Institute of NIH was also collected to
conduct the argument (Milton et al. 2019). According to the information retrieved
from this source, yoga and be considered a complementary approach to health.
Information about ASD was collected from CDC. Besides, research information from
the association for occupational therapy in America was also collected.
Fresh data was also collected through the method of interview participants for gaining
knowledge about their perspectives about yoga. 7 students were selected for this
purpose whose age was between 10 and 14 years and gender was male. Different
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direct information from the respondents was achieved regarding their feelings about
the GTRL program. This evidence is essential in this research as it helps in framing
the answers to research questions. This evidence was used by grouping them under
different themes, which has helped to analyze the answers properly without any error.
Structure of the work
The work of this chosen article has been put in an appropriate structure. The abstract
of this article is providing a brief overview of the work. In the beginning, the
definition of yoga has been mentioned with authentic evidence. After that Milton et
al. (2019) have mentioned the therapeutic effects of yoga. Based on available
literature about this fact, arguments have been created. After that, the authors have
discussed the challenges of students with ASD due to inappropriate sitting posture
within the classroom. The exact figure of approaches taken by US schools to
implement yoga programs in schools has been mentioned. Then, the GRTL program
has been described thoroughly. At the end of literature review, the research questions
have been included.
In the method part, the authors have mentioned that they have considered a qualitative
research design. Relevant references of research methods have been used for
supporting the choice of research methodology for this study. Detailed information
about the participant and the procedure of data collection has been clearly stated. All
the ethical guidelines have been maintained during the collection of data. In the
method part, the researchers have mentioned characteristics of participants. Data has
been gathered after getting consent from the parents of participants. After that, the
data analysis part and result of the data analysis have been included in the structure.
Convenient content analysis has been done to evaluate themes related to the research
topic. After that, the result has been discussed and the implication of occupational
therapy practice has been mentioned. At the end of this paper, future research and the
conclusion has been included. This well-planned structure of this article has helped to
understand the outcome easily. The structure of this study has not favored the point of
views of authors. Rather, it has discussed the point of views of students with ASD
towards yoga programs.
Key ideas and theories discussed in the text
This article is engaged with various key concepts related to the effectiveness of yoga
programs in case of teaching students with autism. Key ideas that have been discussed
in this article are lying in the themes developed in the result section. The authors have
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not analyzed the data based on their assumptions, personal opinions, and
interpretations. Rather they have developed and discussed themes that have been
found through data analysis (Milton et al. 2019). The first theme is about the positive
behavior of participants after the yoga session. Within this theme, it has been
mentioned that students with ASD show positive behavior towards yoga. This key
idea has been supported by the statements of participants. On the other hand, another
theme is the self-efficacy of kinesthetic recall. Under this theme, it has been
mentioned that yoga can influence students with ASD to be able to believe in their
capabilities of achieving the goals of life and dealing with hard situations. This key
concept has also been supported by statements gathered from the participants.
Another key idea of occupational therapy practice has been discussed in this study.
The authors have mentioned that this therapy is for children of elementary, middle
and high school. It has been mentioned that occupational therapists can consider yoga
programs as an appropriate solution that can help students with autism to become
more confident. The authors of this study have reviewed the concept of grounded
theory while analyzing the data. According to Milton et al. (2019), the procedure of
qualitative research has come from the theoretical framework of the grounded theory.
Hence, it can be stated that this study is effectively enhancing the understanding of the
key concepts related to the effectiveness of yoga on students with autism.
Conclusion
From the entire discussion of this critique part, it can be concluded that the authors of
the chosen article have presented their work objectively and they have successfully
achieved the aim of their research through collection and analysis of practical data.
Assumptions of authors have not affected the validity of the outcome. It has been
found that this study has considered an appropriate technique for collecting and
analyzing data. Well-planned structure of this study has made it easier for a person to
understand the entire research. Use of authentic and reliable evidence has increased
the levels of reliability and validity of the result. However, smaller sample groups and
gender bias are the potential limitations of this study.
Part B: Reflection
During conducting this assignment, I have learned different skills that can help me in
future. While conducting the assignment of critical analysis of the article, my critical
thinking ability got increased. I have learned about the process of conducting critique
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of a research article. Knowledge about different processes like taking notes from the
article, building arguments and communicating own thoughts and understanding.
Besides, use of other evidence to support the arguments is new learning for me. I have
analyzed other articles and presented the information either to support or criticize
different points of this article. I found that taking notes very useful while conducting
this part of the assignment. This is because it has helped me to increase my focus and
attention on different essential points that have been highlighted in this research.
Moreover, this has helped me to organize the critique in proper order. Hence, this part
of the assignment has also helped to increase my organization skills. Taking notes
helped me to pay attention to different useful information from evidence and thus the
summarization process got facilitated. Note-taking has also helped me to decode
essential information. Not all information that I found was relevant but this has
increased my ability to re-reading and identifying irrelevant information.
This critique process has helped me to engage in the topic properly. I have pointed out
different essential information about yoga and gathered other authors' points of view.
This has helped me to increase my understanding of the subject area, which can help
me gain advantage during the course in future. On the other hand, this assignment has
helped me to learn the advantages of drawing comparisons. This can encourage me to
draw a comparison of my own work with others. Thus, any gaps in the work can be
pointed out and those gaps can be mitigated properly. I have less time to transcribe
some direct quotations in the article, which has forced me to rely on my own ability of
paraphrasing. Hence, this has helped me to improve my writing skills that could be
proved useful in future. Moreover, I realized the usefulness of yoga and its
implication on ASD affected students. As a teacher, this is very useful for me as I can
include this in my teaching process. I learned about the benefits of yoga and thinking
of students about it. This can help me to communicate with them effectively and the
practice of yoga can be implemented properly. I have reflected on the aim of the paper
to analyze the research. Secondly, I found that organization of critical analysis papers
is most essential to increase understanding. I have organized different points in a
proper order to critique the article. Hence, it can be concluded that this critical
analysis assignment has helped me to improve my essential skills such as critical
thinking ability, learning skills, organization skills, and writing skills. Moreover, my
knowledge about the subject has increased and can be used in my future career.
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References
Goldberg, L., 2013. Yoga therapy for children with autism and special needs. WW
Norton & Company.
Litchke, L.G., Liu, T. and Castro, S., 2018. Effects of multimodal mandala yoga on
social and emotional skills for youth with autism spectrum disorder: An exploratory
study. International journal of yoga, 11(1), p.59.
Milton, L.E., Bantel, S., Calmer, K., Friedman, M., Haley, E. and Rubarts, L., 2019.
Yoga and Autism: Students’ Perspectives on the Get Ready To Learn Yoga Program.
The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy, 7(4), pp.1-10.
Semple, R.J., 2019. Yoga and mindfulness for youth with autism spectrum disorder:
review of the current evidence. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 24(1), pp.12-18.
Vidyashree, H.M., Maheshkumar, K., Sundareswaran, L., Sakthivel, G., Partheeban,
P.K. and Rajan, R., 2019. Effect of yoga intervention on short-term heart rate
variability in children with autism spectrum disorder. International Journal of Yoga,
12(1), p.73.
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