Yoga for Prelinguistic Communication 65which facilitates breath support for speech, an area of challenge
for children with Down syndrome who have low muscle tone and
poor trunk stability. The topic of breath support for speech will be
discussed in Chapter 5.
Comprehension
During the prelinguistic stage of language development, before
infants have begun to talk, most children begin to comprehend
language. Comprehension refers to the ability to understand
what others say. The repetition and predictability of objects,
events, and movements in everyday routines paired with language
help facilitate young children’s comprehension. Children with
language disorders can be impaired in both their comprehension
and production of language, although many children with
language impairments, like typically developing children, have
relatively better receptive than expressive language. However,
the language patterns of children with ASD often do not
conform to this pattern. Their comprehension problems can be
greater than their expressive impairments (American Psychiatric
Association 2013).
The context of a baby massage, which was described earlier,
provides an opportunity to facilitate language comprehension.
In this context, the baby hears his name and the names of
various body parts. When engaged in yoga with their caregivers
at home or in a “Mommy and Me” type of class, infants can
learn the names of some body parts, simple actions, locations,
and directions, referred to as one-step commands. For example,
while lying on their backs face-to-face with their caregivers,
infants can hear the rhyming words “toes to nose”. Infants can
be instructed to “touch your toes” or “open and close” arms or
legs while performing these actions with adult facilitation. Adult
facilitated infant leg movements for flexion and extension can be
accompanied by the locative action words “in” and “out.” The adult