“Namaste" – Arms Around ASD

At 4:30 pm on the second Monday of the month the Arms Around ASD resource center is a hive of activity. Adults, children and teenagers are getting ready for moving meditation. It is the storm before the calm.Shoes are tossed aside as the assembled scramble to take their place in the circle. Volunteer instructor Tom Wright bows to the group and the room becomes eerily quiet. He begins the Tai Chi movements, Qigong breathing and guided meditation. Of the ten people ranging in age from 12-62, half are autistic. The other half are neurotypical family members, care givers or volunteers. A diabolical laugh erupts from the Ganesha wall hanging across the room. The nonverbal 12-year-old has escaped from the group, “hiding” behind the wall hanging and is quite amused with himself.This is a typical experience in a center that serves the neurodiverse (“…neurodiversity is the idea that neurological differences like autism and ADHD are the result of normal, natural variation in the human genome” October 7, 2013 Psychology Today). No one seems phased by the little defector. The moving meditation continues.What started in the basement of the home of the executive director and founder with three volunteers and two families has evolved into a suite of offices serving between 75-100 people with over 20 volunteers. What makes Arms Around ASD unique is that in addition to seeing clients on the spectrum regardless of age, ability or income, their neurotypical family members and caregivers are also eligible to take advantage of any of the 14 different offerings (acupuncture, animal therapy, Aspergers Teens United, communications skills group, guided meditation, massage instruction, massage therapy, moving meditation, naturopath consultations with Dr. Janet, stop-motion animation creation, support group for parents of children over 16, talk therapy, The Rhythmic Arts Project of Asheville and yoga).“Arms Around ASD gives me a compassionate and healing environment to take care of myself,” says Lee Kube, parent of two teen boys on the spectrum.  “The therapeutic massages I have received have decreased my physical pain and discomfort.  The quiet and peaceful space provides me emotional and mental comfort.  That comfort and healing directly translates to my having more patience and being a better parent.”All of the service providers are volunteers who are given the opportunity to use the space to see their private clients. This allows the center to ask for donations for therapies (suggested 10% of the market value of any service) rather than requiring payment. If the client is uncomfortable with or unable to make a monetary donation there is a list of tasks (sweat equity) that can be done instead.According to another parent, “All of this would have been cost prohibitive if (Arms Around ASD) had not been available. Everything we have done with the program has been wonderful. As a parent it’s fantastic to know the center is there. It’s a lifeline.”The same parent described Arms Around ASD as “one giant hug for families” which eventually became the center’s tagline.“Namaste,” Wright intones to close out the session. In response he receives a group “Namaste”.  And in this serene and welcoming space, the Divine light in one truly does acknowledge the Divine light in all. [author]About the Author: Michele Louzon is the founder and Executive Director of Arms Around ASD, a resource center in Asheville, North Carolina providing holistic therapies for people on the autism spectrum, their families and caregivers.[/author]