Yoga and Its Relation to Speech-Language Development 19elementary school children have been developed and evaluated
in recent years. For example, evaluation of the Yoga 4 Schools®
program (Hyde 2012) indicated that through their participation
in this program, typically developing elementary school students
improved their self-esteem, physical health, and academic
performance. For another example, evaluation of the Get Ready
to Learn program, which targeted challenging behaviors in
students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (Koenig et al.
2012), indicated that those students who participated in this yoga
program reduced their irritability, social withdrawal, hyperactivity,
and noncompliance.
In addition to yoga for the school-age years, programs have
been developed for the infant-toddler and preschool populations.
Baby Om and ChildLight Yoga are two examples of such programs.
Children at these younger ages are in the peak speech-language
learning years. It is our position that yoga practices for these age
groups can support speech-language development.
As speech-language pathologists, we have noted that yogic
principles and practices have been used to treat the speech
disorder of stuttering (Balakrishnan 2009; Boyle 2011; Kauffman
et al. 2010). It is also common practice in voice therapy to
incorporate breath control (Gilman 2014) and vocal relaxation
techniques, which are used in yoga. However, beyond stuttering
and voice disorders, applications of yoga in the field of speech-
language pathology have been limited. We acknowledge that the
research to support the evidence-base for the direct use of yoga to
enhance speech-language development has not been conducted.
However, we firmly believe that the connections between certain
yoga practices and speech-language and play development are
sufficiently compelling.
This book addresses the logical relations between yoga
and child speech-language development in different domains
and at various stages. We propose that yoga can enhance