Effect of yoga practices on psycho-motor abilities among intellectually disabled children

The children with intellectual disabilities show disorders at motor development and coordination. Hence, the objective of this study was to see the effect of yoga practices on psycho-motor abilities of intellectually disabled children. Seventy intellectually disabled children were divided into experimental group and control group. Both experimental and control group were assessed on the first day and after 12 weeks of the yoga intervention for static balance, eye hand coordination, agility and reaction time. The subjects of experimental group then underwent a training of yoga practices, for 1 hr for a total period of 12 weeks. The result of within group comparison revealed significant improvement in static balance, eye hand coordination, agility, and reaction time (P< 0.001) in subjects of yoga group however no change was observed in control group. The present study demonstrated that 12 weeks of yoga is effective in improving psycho-motor abilities of intellectually disabled children.