Dance & Music

How does dance help with children with special needs?

From just a physical point of view, movement and dance help with body awareness, which refers to knowing and understanding parts of your body and how they function. For example, children with sensory processing disorder or other similar difficulties might not understand where their bodies are in space or how to work their muscles in their fingers for fine motor control to pick up an object. Children with these difficulties might look clumsy and stumble around, or they might have trouble buttoning a sweater or picking up something on the ground.

For children with special needs such as sensory processing disorder, autism, or other socio-emotional or physical difficulties, enjoyable activities might be few and far between. Children with these needs might have a list of symptoms, including poor attention, difficulty interacting with peers, limited body awareness, or trouble being in social situations that might be over stimulating. Expression through dance or participating in group movement are activities for special needs children that can help improve these difficulties and put children with special needs on the level of their neurotypical peers.