Experiential Nature-Based Therapy
What is experiential nature-based therapy?
Learn with the joy nature can provide. Experiential has been defined as “involving or based on experience and observation” (Oxford University Press). Fun & Functional emphasizes behavioral therapy focused on the individual having active experiences and directly learning through observation. To observe requires one to stop, look, think - prior to doing. These are behaviors often times foreign and difficult for the person with ASD. Integrating nature into aspects of therapy frequently increases motivation. Then the individual can learn more efficiently while having fun. Most children and adolescents & adults that I have worked with come alive in both outdoor nature moments and when nature is brought inside the classroom and/or inside the home. It’s simple to add experiential nature-based opportunities. Just step outside, breathe, and explore the possibilities.
Characteristics of experiential nature-based therapy
· active
· present
· spontaneous
· motivating
Achieving these elements of learning require the therapy’s framework to be based on empirically derived behavioral strategies. These strategies should be determined by a well-trained and experienced behavioral therapist. Within a consultative approach, the therapist teaches the parents and teachers how to integrate and sustain the strategies. Fun & Functional’s belief is to parents how to successfully integrate their child’s therapy program into their home, yard, and community without significantly changing the family’s routine and level of engagement. We are committed to the committed parent.
History
Dr. Glahn began her clinical career developing programs for institutionalized children with ASD in the late 1970’s. She fostered a model called "Transitional Teaching Homes". Living in real homes not institutions. The fabulously dedicated staff quickly learned that letting the children have lots of outdoors time facilitated learning while reducing stress. This impetus led to the development of a private school near the beach in Santa Barbara with big yards. During the summer, therapists conducted work in a completely nature-immersive learning setting, in British Columbia, Canada. The children thrived; their language competencies soared, and there was a renewed & enhanced commitment to experiential nature-based therapy.
Fun & Functional evolved on its own to embrace the power of nature. Validation for our choice of experiential learning within nature was expressed eloquently in Richard Louv’s book Last Child In The Woods. Louv’s work does not focus on the individual with ASD, but does state “rediscover the link between human creativity and experiences in nature, and could offer a new branch of therapy for such syndromes as ADHD” (Louv 2005). We have found this prediction to be true for individuals with ASD. Additionally, many young learners with ASD have significant sensory and emotional needs. Louv points out the relationship between sensory experiences and nature. At Fun & Functional, we can turn sensory needs into positive sensory learning experiences in nature.
Other authors have more recently published books on Dirty Teaching: a beginner’s guide to learning outdoors, There’s No Such Thing As Bad Weather, and Preschool Beyond Walls: Blending early childhood education and nature based learning. The Scandinavian ideology embraced “outdoor life” through Friluftsliv well over a 100 years ago. Experiences “are lived and performed rather than recorded” in Nature First: Outdoor life the Friluftsliv way. Nature and behaviorism as out teachers await…………step outside!
References
- Last Child In the Woods, Richard Louv, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 2005.
- Nature First: Outdoor life the Friluftsliv way, edited by Bob Henderson ad Nils Vikander, Natural Heritage Books, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2007.
- Friluftslive: The Nordic art of reconnect with nature, Oliver Luke Deloie, White Lion Publishing, London, United Kingdom, 2020.
- There’s No Such Thing As Bad Weather, Linda Akeson McGurk, Touchstone Publishing, New York, NY, 2017.
- Dirty Teaching: A beginner’s guide to learning outdoors, Juliet Robertson, Independent Thinking Press, Carmarthen, Wales, United Kingdom, 2014.
- Preschool Beyond Walls: Blending early childhood education and nature-based learning, Rachel A. Larimore, Gryphon House., Inc., Lewisville, NC, 2019.