Accomplishment Through Autism and Judo

1
Accomplishment Through Autism and Judo

• Dr. Zeev Levita
• Consultant Clinical Psychologist
• Options Institute

2
Aim

• To illustrate the potential benefits of Judo for
  people with autism and emphasise that people with
  autism have certain advantages over the typical
  population in utilising Judo for their own
  development and progress.

3
Judo

• Judo is an individual sport. Judo competition
  consists of two opponents that through use of
  sets of stylised body movement techniques try to
  throw or immobilise each other. A competitor can
  win a bout in one of the following possible
  ways
• An elegant and fully competent throw or
  immobilising the opponent on the ground for 25
  seconds
  
• A series of incompletely competent throws and/or
  immobilisations that accumulate into a full
  winning score
  
• Submission by the opponent due to strangulation
  or joint locking
  
• Accumulating a higher score than the opponent at
  the end of the bout (if neither achieves a full
  score)
  

4
Nage No Kata
5
Autistic Spectrum Disorder

• A Pervasive Developmental Disorder Characterised
  by
  
• Impaired social interaction
• Impaired communication
• Activities, behaviours and interests that are
  restricted and stereotyped
  

6
Judo Culture and Etiquette

• Clear set of social rules
• Clear structure
• Predictability
• Concrete and unchanging expectations
• Modelling and copying
• Social Interaction not a necessary condition for
  participation and success
  

7
Judo Techniques

• Set of stylised body movements involving all
  parts of the body
  
• Each technique is a complex movement routine
• Repetitive practice of the technique (routine)
• Repetitive practice of routine Repetitive
  Stereotypic Behaviour ?
  

8
Self Control

• How can you control somebody else if you cannot
  control yourself?
  
• Control of impulsivity
• Planning and controlling your decision making
  processes and your movements
  
• Self- Control the only way to access your
  technique (routine)
  
• If routine are a necessary part of your wellbeing
  will you be more willing to invest more effort in
  self control to access your routines?
  

9
Self-Discipline

• Perseverance in Judo practice requires
  self-discipline Physically and emotionally very
  demanding
  
• Without this self-discipline it is impossible to
  adhere to a repetitive weekly and daily routine
  
• If unchanging routines are part of your character
  and the way to cope with life in general would
  self-discipline (in the usual sense) be
  irrelevant for perseverance?

10
The Judo Practice

• Meaningful social interaction and social activity
  are not a necessary condition for success in Judo
  per-se
  
• Social aspects of judo practice are a
  distraction
  
• Watching the eyes big mistake

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Advantages over the Typical Population

• Rules of behaviour and social encounter are
  clearly structured, unchanging and predictable
  
• Sets of repetitive stereotypic routines
• No need for social-pragmatic skills
• No need for pragmatic communication skills
• Self-control reinforced by access to routines
• Self-discipline reinfored by need for sameness
  and repetition.
  
• Less distraction by social environment and social
  cues