I saw rubyruby post and im wondering thats ince me and daddy arent swimmers. how can we teach our child? When you say you aren't a swimmer, does that mean you're not good at it or you can't swim at all? Either way, you two should learn and then have your son enjoy water with you. ASD love the water, and it's important to show them you like and are comfortable with it. At least, that's what I think. Lessons can start later for your son. If he likes the pool, he'll want to know how to swim!The YMCA usually offers swimming lessons. We both swim so we have not gone there, but I have thought about taking Daniel. He is the one running behind her with the swimmers on. He almost can swim, but not yet. He probably will learn this year. Last year he got really brave but couldn't quite master it.Our area YMCA has swimming lessons for special needs kids. Do you have a YMCA in your area that you could contact?Yes , i have a ymca near me ! I will call them up and fid out if they offer it for special kids. Thanks!Oh! and be me not being a swimmer means i dont swim, sorry! Something happened when i was a teen and i dont like getting into the water, not even pool or beach. Just wet my feet ,that about it LOL! Our YMCA doesn't offer special needs swimming lessons but the very kind kids who are the instructors have taken it upon themselves to personally instruct Tyler 1 on 1. This people have shown me that the kids of today are so kind, and resourceful to come up with a way to help a younger kid who may need a little more help.My son takes lessons. He is 3 and has been doing it for over a year at our recreation center. So far, he has been in the parent and tot classes. The practice getting in and out of the pool, floating with assistance, putting head under water, blowing bubbles, kicking with kick board, etc. He just passed that class to move into the tot only, but we are going to have him do the parent and tot at least one more time so that we are sure he can follow directions well enough. He loves it and does quite well. I think it's great for his motor skills as well, not to mention the biggest smile you could ever see!Our son started swimming lessons once a week before he was diagnosed.
It was a safety issue for us because we live by the water and he had no
fear of it. He loved the water but he hated swim lessons for the first 2
months. After that he was great.
I know a lot of ASD children who love the water, many of them are pretty
good swimmers. We had a swimmer on my daughters Swim club with
moderate autism and he now swims and plays polo at his high school
team.
May I suggest a private lesson to start? 20 minutes 2-3 days a week.
Many of the instructors at a pool will offer private lessons. Find the right
fit.
I just gave my instructors suggestions (not too many verbal instructions)
Swimming is such good exercise. It takes time to develop this skill. We
are in our third year of once a week lessons and he know can do freestyle
and backstroke.
KathyMy son takes lessons and he likes it but swimming ... no. I think it's a motor planning problem ... that's why he was a little late on riding the bike too. He got the idea but it's a problem of coordinating hands and legs in the same time.We tried at age 3. She was declared unteachable and kicked out. Oh well...... At age 5 tried again and got through a series of classes. And we have another booked for the summer. [edit corrected age]
I started BN in a class but that flopped last year because she splashed all the other kids. I was so jealous of all the moms who sat together & chatted while their kids swam. I sat and covered my eyes and could not wait until it was over.
This year I found a private swim teacher and it is so worth it. She has been so patient kind to BN. That is so key because BN is afraid of deep water. Yesterday, she swam the whole length of the pool with her floaty bar to hold onto. I was really proud of her!
RA
We have taken private lessons at our local Y for a year. Very pricey, but worth it. Ds was making a lot of progress, but then they switched teachers on him and the new one just wasn't capable of getting him to listen as well. She let him get away with a lot. The old teacher kept saying she was coming back. I would have pulled him, but we were moving and he loved it - so I just kept them going until we left.
Now, we are hopefully going to try at the Courage Center where they have one on one lessons as well. They are actually less expensive than the Y. For non-menbers, our Y lessons were for a half an hour lesson. This got to be REALLY expensive doing it weekly! But like others have said - swimming is a life-long sport and I want ds to get all of the exercise he can and get into the habit of exercise.
I hung around the swim team in college (my then bf was on the team) and let me tell you, they were some interesting people. They were a lot of fun - but definitely "quirky". Not all of them - but enough that I think ds would have no problem fitting in on a team if they were like that college team! When I interacted with swim teams from other schools, they were similar. Maybe it was just that year or that conference, but I think swimmers can be a different breed - in a good way!
MY SON IS 5 NOW AND DX PDD/HFA/ODD. HE WAS 2 WHEN WE FIRST GOT OUR POOL AND THIS WAS WAY BEFORE I EVEN KNEW BRADY HAD ASD. BECAUSE HE HAS HIT EVERY MILESTONE AND EVEN WAS EASY TO POTTY TRAIN. BUT ANYWAYS HE ALWAYS LOVED TAKING BATH HE JUST DIDN'T WANT ALOT OF WATER IN HIS FACE OR ANYONE WASHING HIS FACE BUT I NEVER ONCE THOUGHT HE HAD AUTISM BECAUSE OF THIS. BUT I FIRST INTODUCED BRADY N THE POOL BY HIM GOING IN WITH ME IN SHALLOW WATER AND THEN PLAYED WITH HIM AND THEM INTRODUCED HIM INTO A SITTING FLOAT WITH ONE OF THE CANAPOYS MADE ON AND LITTLE TOYS. IT WAS JUST HIS LEGS IN THE WATER. AND HE LOVED IT !! BUT AFTER WATCHING ALL OF US HAVING FUN WITHOUT SITTING IN ONE OF THEM HE WANTED TO GO UNDER. BUT ONLY WHEN HE WANTED TO. SO HE SAT ON THE STEPS AND HE DONE IT WHEN HE WANTED TO. AND TO MAKE A LONG STORY SHORT NOW HE HAS NO TROUBLE!! HE GETS MAD WHEN HE CAN'T GO SWIMMING. HE'S 5 AND HE STILL WEARS THE ARM FLOATIES BUT MAN CAN HE SWIM WITH THEM, HE'S STARTING TO WANT TO TAKE THE FLOATIES OFF NOW AND SWIM UNDER WATER TO THE STEPS A LITTLE DISTANCE AND DOES GREAT. BUT I STILL FEEL SAFER WITH HIM WEARING THEM. BUT I KNOW HE CAN DO IT WITH OUT THEM. HE'S CAME ALONG WAY IN THE POOL BY INTERACTING AND EXPRESSING HIMSELF IN THERE IT'S GREAT THERAPY FOR HIM!! I GIVE HIM A BUNCH OF WATER TOYS AND HE' SGOOD TO GO. HOPE THIS HELPS. IN OTHER WORDS TELL AND EXPLAIN TO THEM AND LET THEM WATCH HOW MUCH FUN AND BASICALLY LET THEM DO IT ON THERE OWN. GOOD LUCK!!
Your son loving the water is a very promising start. My son has some sensory issues -- doesn't like to get water on his face -- so that's slowing him down. No lessons yet, just water fun while on vacation.
To get him used to water on his face while swimming, I've heard that blowing bubbles and moving a ball with his chin/face is good practice.
Good luck finding a great swimming instructor.
Our Y swimming teacehrs are often SN teachers, moonlighting ... and some are PTs!!!
I have had a terrific experience there, but others claim their teaching techniques are not "the best."
Oh and one day I was there when the Special Olympics team was practicing -- including SEVERAL recognizably spectrum kids!
We have an above ground pool at home. The boys LOVE it. Anthony learned how to swim in one afternoon. He can swim from on side of the pool to the other (small pool).
[QUOTE=Adamsmom]Also check the recreation department of you local school district. Ours offers 1 on 1 classes for much less the the YMCA.
[/QUOTE]Also check the recreation department of you local school district. Ours offers 1 on 1 classes for much less the the YMCA. All three of my boys have been in swim lessons through the rec dept. Adam was in 1 on 1 for a while, but now that he is more advanced, he is doing fine in a regular class. Even our regular classes usually only have 4 kids.
Also we have a private swim school called Swimtastic. Check for a private swim school. They are a little more expensive, but really good for kids that need extra help. I have some friends that took their kids there just for the first lessons to make sure they were more comfortable, then transferred them to the rec dept.
my son loves the water, so i will be checking out what they offer at YMCA today!I AM ABSOULUTLY ALL FOR SWIMMING!!!! WHEN MY DAUGHTER WAS ABOUT 4 YEARS OLD, SHE WAS STILL IN HER WHEELCHAIR, AND NOT WALKING. SHE STARTED "PHYSICAL" SWIMMING. AFTER ABOUT 2 YEARS, SHE COULD GET UP AND WALK. NOW, YOU MUST UNDERSTAND THAT IT WAS ALSO PHYSICAL THERAPY TOO THAT WAS ALSO NESESSARY, AND SHE HAS HAD HER BUMPS AND BRUISES ALONG THE WAY, BUT SWIMMING HAD ALOT TO DO WITH HER BECOMING SOMEWHAT MORE INDEPENDENT NOW THAT SHE IS OLDER.
TAKE CARE AND GOD BLESS!!!
KAT'S mom
[QUOTE=KAT'S mom]I AM ABSOULUTLY ALL FOR SWIMMING!!!! WHEN MY DAUGHTER WAS ABOUT 4 YEARS OLD, SHE WAS STILL IN HER WHEELCHAIR, AND NOT WALKING. SHE STARTED "PHYSICAL" SWIMMING. AFTER ABOUT 2 YEARS, SHE COULD GET UP AND WALK. [/QUOTE]
I saw a movie (Million Dollar Mermaid starring Esther Williams) and it was a biography about an Australian swimmer named Annette Kellerman who as a child had some sort of disability with her legs (maybe polio, I'm not sure) which swimming corrected. She went on to become a champion swimmer and aquatic performer in the early 20th century.