Our Story
ABOUT US
Neuro Defence uses martial arts as a tool to empower neurodiverse students to achieve their goals and unlock their potential.
The Neuro Defence Program Difference
I have been teaching martial arts, for 46 years however, mostly to neurotypical students. I now have a classes of Autistic students and students with ADHD, or both. I thought that this would be a challenging and worthwhile project. Most martial arts schools have a difficult time teaching neurodiverse students as the instructors are not familiar with the neurodiverse community.
Neuro Defence specializes in teaching the neurodiverse community. Most martial arts schools are busy and noisy places that are not ideal for neurodiverse students. The martial arts curriculum can often be confusing and difficult, and most instructors are not familiar with the teaching style suitable for this community.
Through consulting with psychologist Florence Strang, and her amazing team of psychologists and Dr. Annie Clements, we worked on modifying the curriculum, adjusted the teaching space and environment and modified the teaching culture to make it more neuro friendly. Being Neurodiverse myself I understood the challenges and accommodations that were required for successful teaching. We also developed a teaching program to train Neuro Defence instructors worldwide.
The Neuro Defence, is a non-contact program, we allow for students to take breaks when over stimulated or when having difficulty with emotional regulation. We take a strength-based approach and customize our teaching to the individual student we are working with. Class size is limited and specifically designed for the neurodiverse community.
Our number one goal is to improve the students' confidence and self-esteem. We also encourage the parents of our students to sit in on the lessons and to participate with their child on certain portions of the class. This allows parents to reinforce the values and lessons we teach in the classes. Parents also
have access to online courses and seminars through the online program.
We also understand that the neurodiverse students are all unique, with varied talents and challenges. We understand that the program needs to be flexible and adjusted to the individual student that we were working with to produce the best result possible. We welcome feedback from the students and the
parents as to how we can improve the program.
I have taught 100’s of world karate champions but this experience of working with neurodiverse students far exceeds winning a trophy or medal. When I see these students become self-confident and start to believe in their abilities to reach their full potential, this is far more rewarding than winning a trophy.
Neuro Defence can also be found online. We work with our partners in the United Kingdom, MyND Place, with Dr. Annie Clements.
https://www.myndplace.net/courses
Our aim is to help our students and their families at home, school, and in recreation. The online component makes it easily accessible from home and offers convenience and accessibility for our clients and their families.
It is our belief, that if you help someone discover their self-confidence and self-belief there is nothing that can stop them from achieving their life goals. Neuro Defence provides the tools and supports to help our students achieve what they want in life. If they can be successful in this program, they will have
the confidence and self-belief to do anything they put their mind to.
