‘Attention, all my autism moms:’ PoCo gym offers martial arts class for ASD children

As the mother of a son with autism, Lisa Gartley was looking for something that would give her son self-discipline and confidence.

Her son’s therapist had recommended martial arts, saying the classes were helpful for kids who have autism and ADHD. However, finding the right gym was a struggle.

While driving through Port Coquitlam, Gartley spotted Go Beyond Martial Arts on Prairie Avenue.

She posted on Facebook shortly afterward.

“Attention, all my autism moms,” she wrote. “(I) encourage everyone to check them out! They were fantastic! They meet the kids where they are at!”

The program allowed her son to be social with kids his own age, Gartley said.

“I could see that he was getting a great workout physically as well as mentally stimulated. And I could already tell that it was going to benefit him right away.”

Go Beyond Martial Arts instructors offer martial arts training, which researchers suggest can improve the motor ability of ASD kids.

Walking the walk

Noah Tam and his father Lih, the owners of Go Beyond Martial Arts, said they launched the spectrum class in August after a student suggested it.

“This is an opportunity to help kids, teens, and young adults who don’t have access to martial arts” Tam explained to the Dispatch.

Noah and Lih Tam said they had a student with autism who struggled with spatial awareness and kept looking in the mirror, wondering where his body parts were.

Last week, after kicking the pads with the mirror on his right side, the student eventually learned how not to “be dependent” on the mirror and improved his coordination skills, they said.

“By getting him to choose between the mirror and the target, we’re helping him shape spatial awareness without him knowing we’re doing that.”

“His parents said they have never seen him do that before, not look at the mirror. That was the first time.”

Gartley said the class is “not just talking the walk” and is “walking the walk,” by actually being inclusive.

Fighting autism with martial arts

Between 35 to 80 percent of individuals with ASD are estimated to have “persistent motor impairment issues” compared to the roughly five per cent in those without autism, according to AIDE Canada, a Canadian Autism and/or Intellectual Disability Knowledge Exchange Network.

The network found individuals who struggle with motor skills from an early age, such as people with autism, can be “diagnosed with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD).”

ASD and DCD can be diagnosed as “co-occurring” for children with ASD, says the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

Children with DCD can struggle with simple motor activities, such as tying their shoes or going down stairs, according to CanChild, a research centre focused on youth developmental conditions.

AIDE Canada encourages children with DCD to participate in sports and activities, such as martial arts and swimming, to improve their motor skills.

While motor skills can be associated with autism, they are “not considered as part of the core diagnostic criteria,” the network noted. The U.S. NLH says motor problems in ASD and DCD can stem from different reasons despite the overlaps.

According to research published by Frontiers in Psychology, Xuexing Fu and Peng Shi, two professors of physical education from China, put 56 ASD children into two groups of 28. One group received martial arts training, and the other received traditional rehab training.

Fu and Shi discovered that the group that received a “24-week structured martial arts training” saw significant improvements in gross motor skills, such as “lying, crawling, walking, and running.”

Hard to get funding

Part of the challenge Gartley faced was finding a martial arts class that was eligible for autism funding.

She described being shocked when the instructors told her they had a program that accepts provincial autism funding.

Gartley said finding a specific program for martial arts is crucial because otherwise she wouldn’t be able to use the funding.

“I struggled to find programs that are inclusive for kids that have developmental disabilities and neurodiversities,” she added.

According to the provincial government, once a child’s eligibility is approved, parents can submit a request form for the support services to the autism funding program every year. Once approved, the province pays the service providers directly.

B.C. grants $22,000 to those aged 6 and below, and $6000 to those aged 6 to 18. However, programs like martial arts are ineligible unless applicants provide a “thorough explanation” about the benefits to the child.

“It’s huge as a parent when you find a place that is inclusive and welcoming of your child and doesn’t turn you away and say sorry, we don’t have the capacity to support your kid because of his/her neurodiversity.”