Being an educator for a child with special needs can be very stressful.  A teacher needs to be able to teach in a way that helps each child with varying different needs while also maintaining order and a quality education.  Interventions were shown to help with stress and allowed teachers to be more empathetic and aware of what was going on around them.

Mindfulness Training as a Special Needs Educator

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction programs adapted for adults with autism spectrum disorder and their caregivers (mainly parents) showed an increase in subjective wellbeing and related mental health issues plus a further increase when participants came back in for a follow up.  A mindfulness based intervention called MYmind was adapted for adolescents (ages 8-19) and their parents.  Children showed improvements in social communication problems, emotional and behavioral functioning whereas parents improved in terms of parenting and parental mindful awareness.  Both these studies show that mindfulness-based programs can improve both autism spectrum disorder symptoms and common comorbid emotional and behavioral problems while also offering support for families.

Mindfulness and Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Parenting or caring for children with: 
- Special Needs 
- Autism

University of California, Davis

Through mindfulness practices, parents are able to not only improve their own health and deal with the stress of being a parent but also improve their relationship with their children.  With their parents learning mindfulness practices, children are able to form more secure attachment styles and improve their own behavior.

Mindfulness in Parents

Benn, R., Akiva, T., Arel, S., & Roeser, R. W. (2012). Mindfulness training effects for parents and educators of children with special needs. Developmental Psychology, 48(5), 1476–1487. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027537

Mindfulness training effects for parents and educators of children with special needs.

A mother's ability to regulate and appropriately respond to their child's needs  helps create a healthy mother-child attachment and helps the child grow developmentally.  Mindfulness has helped mothers navigate the stressors of parenthood and through them learning mindfulness techniques, they were able to change the behavior of their children through affect regulation. It is important to note that while the focus is on mothers, father-child attachment is important too.

How Mindfulness as a Parent Can Change Attachment

The MBCP program is based off of the popular Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction.  MBCP is specific to all things parenthood as it uses mindfulness-based practices through pregnancy, childbirth, and early parenting to promote a healthy family life.

Mindfulness-Based Parenthood and Parenting - The MBCP Program

Studies have supported the idea that mindfulness-based interventions can reduce stress and increase social support in and between immigrant families.

Mindfulness-Based Interventions Amongst Immigrant Parents

While parents are often the primary caregivers, a caregiver is anyone that helps an individual with day-to-day tasks.  Caregiving relationships outside of the traditional married mother-father relationship include:
- Coparenting
- Educators

Caregiving

Taking Care of Children with Additional Needs

- Dismissive (Avoidant) Attachment
- Fearful -Avoidant (Disorganized) Attachment
- Preoccupied (Anxious) Attachment
- Secure attachment 


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