Rita Vaičekauskaitė, Elvyra Acienė
Abstract
Family health is a state of complete each person’s physical, mental and social well-being which is experienced as a result of belonging to family. Programs of alternative and complimentary medicine are getting more popularity and scientific evidence as effective resources for family health. The article introduces scientific research which evidence about effectiveness of qigong massage for family and autistic children. The power of qigong massage can be compared with the “blood transfusion with perfectly matched blood” [8]. Parent and child share the same Qi energy. Because of this, Qigong massage given by parents becomes very effective even though the parents have no prior experience with Qigong [6, 8]. However, specialists working alone are able to achieve perhaps half the results possible, and parents working alone, considerably less than half. Therefore, in our research and training program we paid special attention to parents and specialists partnership. Research sample and design. 8 autistic children (two girls and six boys under age 6) were recruited from two educational institutions working with children with disabilities in Klaipeda city. We used three main intruments to gather data before massage program (pre-test) and afterwards (post-test) as follows: the Sense and Self-Regulation Checklist (SSC), Parenting Stress Index (PSI), and Bunse developmental checklist. Research results. The qigong massage therapy has been scientifically shown to improve the behavior and development of autistic children (under age 6) and diminish parents stress related to raising an autistic child. The experience of the families in Lithuania witness statistically significant distinctive changes in the development and the sensory system of an autistic child due to qigong massage as follows: children started speaking, they have better sleep, they have better attention concentration, they have less tantrums and self-aggression reactions, they are better in self-soothing, their communication improved, their gross and fine motor functions expanded. The outcomes of the research study in Lithuania are consistent with those in USA. The aforementioned factors are important resources for family health. The effect of qigong massage is stronger when application of qigong massage is organized as integral and complex social, educational and medical help to autistic children and their families.
Keyword(s): autistic children; family health; qigong massage
DOI: 10.5200/sm-hs.2013.013
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