There is a common misconception that to be mindful means to be motionless and silent. Yet there typically are learners in every class for whom setting such a goal might seem unrealistic.
Teachers training in Pause Breathe Smile frequently ask about their ākonga with ADHD, autism, or other traits that might make practicing mindfulness harder.
This post will answer the question, “How can we make sure that mindfulness activities are accessible to all of our ākonga?”
The good news is that preliminary findings from a study into Pause Breathe Smile and neurodiverse learners conducted by Auckland University of Technology (AUT) indicate that the mindfulness programme provides valuable support for neurodiverse tamariki.
In written correspondence with two researchers on the study, Javier Bartos Perez and Chris Krageloh said that Pause Breathe Smile mindfulness appears to be “particularly helpful to neurodiverse learners in helping them manage emotional and sensory overwhelm, develop greater awareness of their own needs, and transition from stimulating situations back into a calmer state that supports engagement and readiness to learn.” The peer-reviewed paper reporting on the study is currently under review for publication.
Pause Breathe Smile trained educators who participated in the AUT study highlighted the importance of flexible and responsive implementation when teaching mindfulness.
To collect some additional expert advice, we reached out to Tami Harris, a passionate contributor in the disability and mental health sectors for the past 30 years in both the United States and New Zealand. Tami is now the CEO of Acorn Neurodiversity, a charitable trust in Tāmaki Makaurau that aims to give neurodivergent young people the tools they need to reach their potential to thrive in Aotearoa/New Zealand.
I spoke with Tami to get her input on how teachers using Pause Breathe Smile can best adapt the programme to best support their neurodiverse ākonga.
What follows are some highlights from our conversation, as well as 5 key takeaways for Pause Breathe Smile educators.
Begin by questioning the concept of the “ideal student”
Tami says that, like education in general, wellbeing programmes tend to be designed for the average student. “They’re set to reach the kind of ‘ideal’ candidate: a pretty well-rounded person who experiences stress like we all do and is trying to develop some strategies for managing those times,” explains Tami.
Hauora activities tend to work best for a student who can:
- sit still
- listen quietly
- follow verbal instructions
- tolerate sensory and social demands
- understand abstract language
- regulate themselves sufficiently to participate
Of course, as teachers are well aware, that list doesn’t describe every child.
Any instruction that fails to consider neurodivergence doesn’t necessarily work for people who experience the world so differently.
“Mindfulness, as a practise for wellbeing, can be a good tool for neurodivergent people. It’s important, though, to recognise that it’s just one tool of many,” says Tami, and a variety of adaptations and variations can help various types of learners find their entry point to exploring and strengthening their own wellbeing.
It can help toreframe our expectations. Before asking “How can I get this child to participate in mindfulness?”, consider “What might I need to change about this activity so there are several different ways to participate?”
This underlines one of the AUT study’s initial findings about Pause Breathe Smile: that mindfulness can help neurodiverse learners develop greater awareness of their own needs and how to communicate them.
Don’t confuse stillness with regulation
As we explore in Lesson 4: All Things Rising and Falling, dysregulation can show up differently in different people, depending on whether they go up into the red zone (hyperarousal) or drop down into the grey zone (hypoarousal) or even bounce back and forth.
A quiet child isn’t necessarily calm, regulated, or engaged.
Likewise, a child who is moving, fidgeting, or looking away isn’t necessarily inattentive.
In other words, the behaviour we are observing doesn’t always tell us what’s happening internally for our tamariki.
As adults in neurodivergent kids’ lives, we need to question “the assumptions that we make. We need to really try to know our kids as individuals and have that flexible mindset,” encourages Tami.
After all, the goal of practicing mindfulness isn’t necessarily to make children look calm. The goal is to help them develop awareness of what’s happening in their bodies, thoughts, and emotions. That’s something that supports all kids, neurotypical and neurodiverse.
Regulation is contextual and variable
Tami explained that a neurodivergent child’s capacity can change day to day and even hour to hour.
“So much of emotional regulation is context-dependent,” explains Tami. “You’ll hear from teachers and parents something like, ‘they were totally fine doing this thing and there were no issues. And now we’re doing something else and like, what the heck? Why are they having such a giant emotional response?’”
For neurodivergent children, different contexts can change the entire experience of what we are asking them to try.
“Ultimately, we want to help neurodivergent children learn about themselves and develop self-awareness, so they recognise the signs that they are becoming dysregulated,” says Tami. “One key aspect of that is interoception, understanding what’s going on in their bodies, which is something that you train educators in as well [at Pause Breathe Smile].”
The key takeaway for educators? Don’t judge what happens from one day or one mindful activity to another. Instead, Tami says, consider, “What has changed [since the previous time], and what might the young person need today?”
The Four Ps of Neurodiversity-Friendly Mindfulness
Participation Choices
Offer more than one way to participate.
Rather than creating one “correct” way to do a mindfulness exercise, offer several options.
For example, Tami took the mindful walking activity in Lesson 3: Everything for the First Time, and highlighted that students might
- walk slowly
- walk at their normal pace
- count their steps
- notice sounds
- notice colours
- hold a small object for comfort
- focus on how their feet feel
- walk in a particular pattern
Learners who struggle with the physical stillness described in “Straight Back, Soft Belly” will likely find other entry points to mindful practice easier, such as walking, stretching, rocking, moving hands, manipulating an object, or changing position. A child who walks mindfully around the room may be participating just as meaningfully as a child sitting cross-legged with their eyes closed.
The important thing here is that choice is not an optional extra. For some learners, choice is what makes participation possible. It’s about having the same intention but offering and supporting different pathways.
Initial findings shared via email from the AUT research team about the Pause Breathe Smile and neurodiversity study reinforce this fact. “Teachers described adapting PBS through visual and concrete supports, metaphors, music or external sensory cues, quieter spaces, flexible positioning, and practices tailored to individual sensory preferences” (Perez, email correspondence August 2026).
You might worry that giving one student an adaptation is “unfair.” But treating everyone identically doesn’t necessarily create an equitable learning environment.
If one student needs to move, another needs a visual prompt, another needs to hold an object, and another prefers to participate without eye contact, those differences don’t undermine the activity.
They may make meaningful participation more accessible to every child.
Predictability
Make the purpose of the activity, the beginning, duration, and ending clear.
Tell children what is going to happen.
Predictability matters, especially to neurodiverse learners.
Before starting, tell students
- what you’re going to do
- how long it will take
- what the beginning looks like
- what the ending looks like
- what choices they have
- what they can do if they don’t want to participate in the usual way
For some children, simply knowing, “this will take five minutes, and then we’re going back to our desks” can make an unfamiliar activity much more manageable, suggests Tami.
Visual timers, picture sequences, and written instructions can also reduce the cognitive load of figuring out what is expected. This can help keep the focus on experiencing the moment.
Practical language
Use concrete instructions rather than relying on abstract concepts.
The Pause Breathe Smile handbook contains lots of scripts, and there are many audio tracks that you can use from the Member’s Resources Pātaka.
Just be aware that there might be some words and concepts that your neurodivergent tamariki might need some help understanding. Tami points out a few that are somewhat abstract, like “be present”, “notice”, “connect with your body”, “show gratitude”, and “feel grounded”.
For some children, particularly those with differences in language processing, executive functioning, or interoception, they may genuinely have no idea what the instruction is asking them to do.
The invitation we can offer as teachers is to return to the clues of our five senses and help children explore here and now concretely. For example, instead of saying, “Be present,” try out, “notice three things you can see right now,” offers Tami.
For example, here are some alternative possibilities to try:
“Be present” becomes
“Look at [specific object] and tell me one thing you notice about it”
“Put both feet flat on the floor”
“Listen for the quietest sound in the room”
“Notice” becomes
“Notice your breathing entering and leaving your nose”
“Notice one thing that is blue in this room”
“Notice how your hands feel — cold, warm, tingly, soft?”
“Point to something you can hear right now”
“Connect with your body” becomes
“Squeeze your hands into fists, then let them go floppy”
“Push your feet into the floor and count to 5”
“Wiggle your fingers and toes — start slow, then fast”
“Give yourself a hug and squeeze”
“Show gratitude” becomes
“Tell me one thing that made you smile today”
“Name one person who helped you this week”
“Say thank you to [specific person] for [specific thing]”
“Draw one thing you liked about today”
“Feel grounded” becomes
“Feel the chair / floor / mat underneath your body.”
“Find 3 things you can see, 2 things you can hear, 1 thing you can touch”
“Press your toes and sole of your feet down on the ground”
“Hold something heavy or squishy in your hands”
In short, as much as possible, offer a couple of ways to interact with the concept at hand, translating abstract mindfulness concepts into observable, concrete actions.
Partnership
Co-regulation comes before self-regulation.
We sometimes fall into the trap of talking about emotional regulation as though children should independently acquire these skills simply because we’ve taught them a strategy.
But Tami points out that children often need an adult to co-regulate with them before they can internalise those skills themselves. This is true for all tamariki, but it might be more so the case for neurodiverse learners.
Supporting learners through co-regulation might mean
- sitting alongside a child
- modelling the breathing
- doing the movement together
- helping them identify bodily sensations
- offering a choice
- reducing sensory demands
- using a familiar object
- helping them understand what is happening
In Pause Breathe Smile training workshops, we talk about how a huge part of what we can do as adults in the classroom is to model emotional regulation ourselves, to not take things personally or have big reactions to how a mindfulness lesson lands.
Tami reminds us that neurodivergent kids, like all tamariki, thrive best when the adults in their lives are embodying an emotionally regulated state. That sets the tone for the whole group.
One More Takeaway: Curiosity
When something isn’t working, ask “What is this behaviour telling me?” before assuming the child is unwilling, inattentive, or non-compliant with the mindfulness lesson.
Think “curiosity” rather than “compliance”
In our conversation, Tami repeatedly asked me to return to the underlying assumptions that many adults make about what they are seeing in terms of student/tamariki behaviour.
Instead of “They’re refusing to participate,” try, “What is making this difficult right now?”
Instead of “This student is being disruptive,” try, “What might their movement be helping them do?”
Instead of “They were fine yesterday,” try, “What is different about this context?”
Essentially, behaviour is information.
Dysregulation isn’t necessarily a child choosing not to cooperate. Instead, it may contain information that something about the environment, expectations, sensory load, social situation, or task isn’t working for them.
This way of getting curious will support all learners, because neurodiversity-friendly mindfulness is good mindfulness practice for everyone.
Concrete instructions help many children. Choice helps many children. Predictability helps many children. Movement helps many children. Reduced social pressure helps many children.
The purpose isn’t to create a separate mindfulness programme for neurodivergent learners. It’s to move away from the idea that there is one correct way to be mindful.