Yoga as a fatigue intervention (Werfel et al., 2025)

Purpose: This study evaluated the effects of a single session of yoga on the fatigue and reading skills of children who are deaf and hard of hearing (DHH).

Method: The study included nine school-aged children who are DHH. Following a 3-hr assessment, the participants self-reported fatigue and completed sight word and nonword reading. They then participated in a 20-min yoga session, followed by a postsession self-reporting of fatigue and completion of alternative sight words and nonwords.

Results: Analyses revealed that most participants experienced a decrease in fatigue post-yoga session, resulting in a small effect size. There was no effect noted for reading of sight words and nonwords; however, most participants read more nonwords post-yoga session than prior to the yoga session.

Conclusions: Yoga has potential to positively impact fatigue experienced by children who are DHH. Future research evaluating the effects of multiple sessions of yoga on fatigue is needed.

Supplemental Material S1. Means, standard deviations, and effect sizes for all variables for children with typical hearing (n = 5).

Werfel., K. L., Mattingly, J., & Lund, E. (2025). Yoga as a fatigue intervention for children who are deaf and hard of hearing. Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1044/2025_PERSP-25-00008