Water/swimming issue | Autism PDD
My son is very high-functioning but with swim lessons I would never do anything but private lessons. He can do group tumbling, group music, group a lot of different things - but not swimming. It just takes too much coordination and crossing the mid-line. And there are so many distractions in a pool. He absolutely needs one-on-one for this activity. Otherwise it would be a total waste of money and time.
I do encourage you to keep going - especially in light of all the recent drownings. And teaching him water safety as well.
Hello again,
My 4 yo son Quincy is currently on the waiting list to be diagnosed but I have a question. Do your children scream bloody murder when water is splashed in their faces? My son likes water but it takes him forever to warm up. We started swim lessons today and he just screamed and cried almost the entire time. He stop when the teacher was taking him out further into the water or playing little water games with him but as soon as they put him back on the side and someone splashed, I thought he was going to stroke out. He's signed up for the next 3 weeks for swim lessons and I just hope things get better for him.
Do you think I should take him out or keep him in to see if he gets used to it? It just breaks my heart to see him in there crying like that and calling my name. When he got out, the teachers said "see you tomorrow" and he said "I'm not coming back tomorrow". I had to laugh.
What should I do? I don't want to stress him out but I think if he keeps going, he'll love it.
Karman
My son was terrified of the shower, so I would take him outside and spray him with the hose and also let him play with it and spray me, and he magically got over it one day. I tend to think that they do get over their irrational fears if they are exposed to them in a loving way!My gut tells me to keep him in there a while longer to see if it gets better. Hopefully I can get him to go back tomorrow. We have really been talking up what a good job he did today and how proud we were of him. That made him happy so hopefully we can get him to go back.
Karman
Sorry, I had to laugh at I'm not coming back tomorrow.
It seems like he is getting some benefits from the lessons, especially when the teacher took him out further into the water. I had to take my son out of swim lessons a few weeks ago. It was just too much stimuli around. He loves the water too, but there were too many kids assigned to the instructors and they couldn't give him the attention he needs in order to learn how to swim. All he would do was sit on the steps and play in the water. I have signed him up for private lessons later this summer. Maybe your son would feel more comfortable with private lessons as well. That way, there may not be as many kids around and he can get more one on one attention.
SunnynCJ, I laughed too but I tried not to let him see me laugh
Karman Yes, private is the way to go, unless you have a friend with a child that might want to do semi-private (2 kids). Its social and a bit cheaper. Also, DO get him some good goggles - maybe let him pick them out. They have some that look like spider man, bat man, etc. Maybe he doesn't enjoy the water splashing into his eyes. For all of you that gave me such encouragement and advice, I want to update you on Quincy. We had our 3rd swim lesson tonight and he only cried twice for a few seconds each time and that was it. When the instructor came to get him, he cried and he cried once when they went under this mushroom looking thing that poured water on your head. Both times were brief. He was engaged with the swimming and the teachings in the class. He didn't call my name once either. Today was a good day for Quincy. We are signed up for one more 2 week session right after this one so I'm hoping we can keep the progress going. Here is a link to a few pics if anyone is interested in looking. They are a little underexposed because of the cloudy weather. I also didn't take a longer lens so this is all that I've got. Thanks again for all of the encouragement! http://picasaweb.google.com/nickybegood1998/QuincySwimming KathyK, thanks for that. It is certainly hard hearing that initial scream but after that, he was really enjoying himself. I took pictures and showed them to him and he just loves that. He gives me a play by play of what is going on (ha). We might just be over the hurdle....darnit...I'm sure I just jinxed myself. Karman Splashing the face is an issue, yes. KEEP UP EXPOSURE and get him used to it! My autistic son has never liked water on his face and ears, which makes swimming and shampooing a problem. He only really gets to go swimming during our summer vacations, so his progress in this area is pretty noticeable. Two summers ago, he had to be well-above the water on a tube or air mattress. Last summer, he could be in the water with a life jacket, but not water wings, because water wings wouldn't keep his face out of the water reliably enough. This year, he's dog paddling without any flotation device, which means he gets his chin wet and he's okay! Anyhow, I don't know what to recommend in your son's situation, but I just wanted to give you hope. Letting my son have fun and go at his own pace led to gradual improvement in this area. I hope you will experience the same with your little guy. Good luck with everything. Shelley, T and my other two are in the Y classes, and sometimes it IS spotty as to how good the teachers are. We are at an excellent Y (switched branches in fact), and now she is getting better teachers. However, I have had to ask my husband to back out of the natatorium as he gets so frustrated watching the teachers be awkward! LOL. T is learning to swim, though, at last! I am looking for swim lessons for Sarah but private as well... The ymca groups them into 6 kids with one teen teacing them
Hope he overcomes the splashes:) I am in Texas too:) He WILL LOVE the WATER...eventually... Once he is exposed to more & more splashes, showers and dunking at home as foxl says then he'll want more and more water playtime !! But private swimming lessons would be the best current approach. Group lessons bore autistics and they will let their minds wander off or get distracted...My boy starts to eye older women...SERIOUSLY, he appreciates beauty and his eyes will turn when he sees an attractive girl passing by, more so if she's in her bikini !!! Boobear, How funny is that about your son eyeing the girls. At least he appreciates beauty
Well, we survived the swim lesson. I tried bribing him with Burger King if he wouldn't cry and scream...be a big boy. I have to say that he cried less today than yesterday...about 5 minutes. He REALLY doesn't like the splashing so we are going to work with him on turning his head (which he really does already) so it's not getting into his face. We are also going to invest in some goggles. As soon as he got out, he ran to me and said "I get Burger King now"? I rewarded him anyway because he did so much better than yesterday. There was only one teacher today for 5 kids and I noticed that you can't keep him engaged when there is less than 2 teachers. Hopefully there will be two going forward. I totally don't expect him to learn to swim this year but I'm just hoping he just gets more comfortable in the water. We have a break until Monday so I hope we don't move back to square one. There has been so much rain in Texas that we only got in 2 lessons this week. Thanks all for listening. Karman In my optimism, I signed him up for 2-2 week classes (preschool) so we have 3 more weeks of him just trying to get used to the water. I wouldn't be upset if he didn't learn a darn thing but he just liked to get in and stopped crying. He actually blew bubbles in the water like the rest of the kids which was encouraging. We've got the weekend break and then back at it on Monday if we don't get rained out. Geez, speaking of this rain, I haven't seen this much rain in Texas in a long time. No droughts here this summer that is for sure. Hi ShellyR....I'm in the Hurst area. Thanks all. Karman Thanks everyone for your comments. Our class is at 6:00pm so we have yet to go today. I'm going to take him to get some goggles and maybe that will help him bit. That night after the first lesson, I made a point to splash him the face as many times as I could (haha). The whole time I'm telling him that it's just water and it won't hurt and it's clean and fun. We will see if this helps at all. He said that he will go back today but he wouldn't commit to not crying (ha). Everytime I asked him to say that, he wouldn't. That little boy is smart. I will keep you all posted on how things go. Thanks, Karman
it out. I know that it is a lot of time and effort on your part. I have always
thought of swimming as a life skill. He will enjoy it more and more as his
skills improve. Pretty soon you wont be able to get him out of the water.
swimming lessons for two monthis. (He wanted only to play but not actually
want to work at it) Our instructor was very patient. Everyone knew him as it
was at my daughters swim club pool. He finally got it and loved it after 2
months. Getting the right goggles helped immensely. That was almost
three years ago. Now he is so watersafe and a good swimmer.
That's GREAT news! We seem to always be on the fence about
dd's gymnastics class--she likes it but has difficulty. So hard to make the
call to push or not. For now, we just take it week to week & her coach
has made all the difference. Anyway, hope good class experiences
continue & get better.
Our dd FREAKS if water gets splashed on her YET LOVES water. Go
figure!! She is a bit nervous when in a pool, wants to be held very closely
(I LOVE that snuggle time!! I'll take it anyway I can!) but enjoys it. It took
us well over a year for her to be okay w/ the bath. So, I know the whole
being splashed w/ water will pass in time too.
Oh--this rain (I'm in TX too)...it's horrible!! It's coming down like crazy
now (& dd is freaking out, hates thunder & rain too). Okay, off to build
my ark ...
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