does swimming help? | Autism PDD

I am trying to find out how to get my sons into swimming. I think it would help their coordination. I have also read it helps kids tune out excess stimuli. I would welcome any ideas on how to get them to work with others in the water successfully. Are there special classes or camps? I have read about kids who do really well in the pool and also with music. The pool has been really good for my boys. Does anyone know any special methods of getting kids on the spectrum to swim effectively. The following directions thing is difficult for my 7 year olds. They cannot take direction from the deck. Also, the cold water is hard to get over sometimes. Try aquatic therapy. My daughter had little success with private swim lessons (although she had fun). Now with aquatic therapy with the physical therapist, she is almost swimming. Plus her balance and coordination are much improved.

Good luck [QUOTE=Netters64] tzoya: Thanks for the info. We are at our wits end with focus issues. One of our boys has a harder time than the other, but they both are struggling. Right now they are in a regular ed 2nd grade and keeping up academically, however focus is an daily problem. I think my husband and I will speak to our dr. about Ritalin just to find out our options. Hell, I think I need some meds to deal w/ all this stuff myself as I am breaking down too.
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Ask about Adderall XR. That's what I'm on, for A.D.D. I was on concerta but it made me very wired and shakey. I like the adderall better because it's non stimulant. My psychiatrist said that's usually her first line of defense in medicating kids...
NT is neurotypical and non-verbal = 'non-talker' DD is both dear daughter and dev delay - we don't want to make things too easy for you mbmom: How do you find out about aquatic therapy? Who offers it? How much? Andrew LOVES swimming...We took a therapeutic swimming class offered at our city's rec center last year. It was so popular that we missed out on the last 2 sessions. He's taking therapeutic gymnastics now, but we're signing up for the next swim class on the very first day!My daughter's aquatic therapy was offered by the physical/occupational therapy practice she goes to. The cost is similar to a physical therapy session. Depending on one's insurance plan, it might be covered.

Swimming, for us, hasn't been much of a therapy, but a confidence builder. My ds loves it, does it well, and I don't put any therapy things into it. It's kind of 'his thing' and everyone needs to just have something to do that's fun. He learned everything he knows by modeling other kids. That has always been his weakest skill-modeling- but for something so motivating as swimming, he did it!

Private lessons are almost a must for our kids. Check to see if they offer discounts for kids with special needs (ours gives us 50% off the private lesson rate, which is HUGE). My ds, even though he has mild PDD-NOS, is impacted a lot by gross motor deficits. So, having someone one-on-one encouraging him and constantly watching HOW he is doing things is awesome. We did daily lessons for 6 weeks this summer (well, four days a week) and my ds' skills improved DRAMATICALLY. We are continuing with once a week on Saturday mornings with the same instructor. We LOVE her and she has done incredible things for my son.

He can swim halfway across the pool now in fact! We just need to work on coordinating breathing now as he swims halfway across without breathing! snoopy woman: Do you live in US? I am in USA in CA. How did you find your swim teacher? YMCA? There are no indoor pools here because it is CA I guess. My boys can swim across the pool, but need a lot of improvement in strokes. By the way, I may seem dense, but what does ds stand for? Actually, what does NT and DD mean too?

Nontalker

developmental delay

swimming is hard on Daniel cause he as curve in his upper body. He loves the water though.

it seems that some people have different abbreviations. one person said DD is developmental delay and NT is non talker!! Which is it?

I am big on swimming, for EVERYONE.

1) sensory and motor therapy

2) safety and a sense of accomplishment and self-discipline

3) if you start VERY early and do mommy-and-me classes (or independent one-on-one play/activity) it is EXCELLENT for attachment, as well. It also is a great venue for floor-time-y type interaction and activity.

4) It is therapy disguised as PLAY! FUN FUN FUN!

[QUOTE=Netters64]Actually, what does NT and DD mean too? [/QUOTE]

Neurotypical = not ASD (autism spectrum disorder)

DD = Dear Daughter. DS = Dear Son. DH = Dear Husband. MIL = Mother in law

Swimming is an important skill and a good hobby/social activity, so I think it's a great idea for your child and wish you all the best.

tzoya: Thanks for the info. We are at our wits end with focus issues. One of our boys has a harder time than the other, but they both are struggling. Right now they are in a regular ed 2nd grade and keeping up academically, however focus is an daily problem. I think my husband and I will speak to our dr. about Ritalin just to find out our options. Hell, I think I need some meds to deal w/ all this stuff myself as I am breaking down too.
Netters6439350.7755092593We did a month of YMCA swimming EVERY DAY this summer for 45 minutes. I honestly didn't think it really helped anything except my son loves to swim. As far as muscles, he does not have the strength to hold himself up and has to push himself with his feet on the ground, had a very hard time with floats, ect. At the end, the teacher advised me to get him into private swimming lessons. I am glad he did though, he loves it! And he learned how to go down the BIG water slide if he was caught by a lifegaurd at the bottom, so that was really special for him!We started our almost 4-year old PDD-NOS son swimming this summer at our neighborhood pool and he loved it. Should have done it sooner. He is also hyptonic and it is *very* good physical therapy. Going to have to find an indoor pool over the winter. Learning to paddle, tread water, etc does a lot for self-confidence and mainly, he just plain has a lot of FUN. I started my son with one-on-one swimming lessons at age 4. He's 16 and this is his MAIN social outlet plus his main form of exercise, year 'round. He swam for years with a kiddie swim team and then, at age 12, also joined Special Olympics and has gotten tons of medals with them. He swims all 4 strokes well , but his speciality is the butterfly. This sport helps to offset the weight gain from meds. It also gives him a LIFELONG sport. How many 90yo's do karate? But I personally know several who still swim regularly. I started it with him because he showed an interest and being in water gives EXCELLENT sensory input. Swimming helped his sensory issues and gave him a social outlet. Those lessons (which we continued for 8 or 9 years) were worth EVERY penny. But they were always individual lessons. My son has a dx of PDD-NOS and is middle functioning. Verbal, but with significant speech delays.tzoya, your son sounds similar to mine. Mine is 6 now. Talking but delayed. Not speaking at an age appropriate level but always improving. Your son.. He's 16, how's he doing in general?tzoya: What types of meds do you have you have your son on? One of my twins is having a very difficult time focusing. We are considering putting him on meds used for ADD. Is this what you do? My sons are both verbal, but have poor social skills and focus.

They like swimming. I had them on a swim team. They had a hard time with practices and even one on one they are challenging. The exercise was excellent for them (they actually fell asleep before 10 some nights). I want to keep them going, but am wondering how I can help them be more successful. Maybe I need to find an indoor pool for the winter and some more one on one lessons.

Our area YMCA offers swimming lessons for special needs kids. We also have another facility that offers private lessons. If you're able to, private lessons are probably the ideal. Here is a past thread about teaching our children to swim.

http://www.autism-pdd.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=16669&am p;am p;KW=swimming

WIMomOf239305.3415856482We would take our son to the pool all the time. He loves water. He would get mad when we went into the deep area and had to hold him. He would fight to get away. Finally we started letting him go with our hands around his waist until he learned to keep himself up. Then we gradually got further and further away from the side. His swimming is a bit unusual because he swims in a more upright position (almost like treading water) but he gets where he wants to go.

I have 2 autistic kids that love to swim. Swimming is so much part of their lives I can not think of them spending a day without it. The most important method in learning how to swim is ready availability of the pool. We are fortunate to have a pool. My 8 yr old kid was not difficult in getting to swim. He is naturally explorative and bold. My 5 yr old; it was more challenging. We introduced him by carrying him while in the pool. Now they both swim better than all members of the family. Eri knows about the danger of drowning. He had learnt of the need to prevent his naive brother from getting into trouble. Tolu is so good now he doesn't need Eri's assistance anymore.

I am looking to move into a new house. Of course there must be a pool in it !!!!

Thank you for the support. I ended up putting my seven year old sons on a swim team. It was a very difficult time to get them to participate correctly. They ended up swimming by themselves doing their own practice. They both got stronger and loved swimming in meets and getting medals. We have also been giving them private lessons which we will continue. Honestly this has been very difficult as a parent to watch, but their progress and enjoyment has surpassed the frustration we (my husband and I) felt. I personally think it is a great thing for my boys. Now if we can only get Steven to stop wandering off! WE have a Autism swim at our community center. I don't use it though. WE also have a 1+1 special needs swim which works really well for our son. Ours is also very independant so we put him in a swim vest , works beautifully.My ds LOVEs the pool so much!!! He is a different kid in the water-focused and calm. SOOO happy! He is 3 and we are working on teaching him to swim, but mainly it is for relaxation aand social skills. It is a community pool sothier are other kids thier.I would love to have a 1 on 1 special nees team. What a great idea. We do have special needs baseball but Trent has no interest what-so-ever.I was a good swimmer and won lot's of blue ribbons.Problem for Daniel since he has a curve in his left shoulder blaid.Thank you Tzoya, I understand where you are coming for regarding size. I'm sure my son will be on par by 16 as well since he is 6 and 4'5" and 97 lbs. I haven't medicated him although at age 3- 3 1/2 would have seriously considered it. He was a whilrling dervish and the tantrums were horrible. I wish your son the best. Thank you for sharing.
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