Flip,
I've had to deal with this a bunch of times. What I do is mention that C has autism and then go on to explain what that means in the particular situation. For example, this is what I told the t-ball coach:
C has autism. He has a communication delay and has difficulty following complex verbal instructions. If C is holding his bat improperly, you can't just yell from the mound "choke up more on the bat and put your elbow up." You'll need to walk over to the plate and actually move his hands on the bat and move the elbow while you're giving the instruction. C sometimes gets disregulated when something upsets him. One of us will be here for practices and games to deal with that if it happens.
I didn't feel the need to go into everything, just what was relevant for t-ball. In this environment (sport played outside) there was no need to talk about C's difficulties in sitting still in the classroom, and challenges around transitions, because those just weren't relevant to t-ball. I also didn't explain what to do when he has a meltdown, as I wouldn't expect a coach to have to deal with that when he has a whole team of kids. We're there for that. I just let the coach know that it might happen.
I definitely think tailoring the message to the situation is key. My guess is what you'll tell the swim instructor v. what you'll tell the sunday school teacher might sound very different.
to my son's religious readiness class teachers and swim teachers regarding his disability. What types of things do these folks need to know? What types of modifications should I suggest?
We had first swim lessons this week and he also started religious readiness class. He is 3 1/2. For swimming class, he did well with everything except staying on the side of the pool when the teacher worked with the other kids. We are moving to a less crowded class next week, so he will have 1 teacher to 2 kids. They don't want parents in the pool area. So, I suggested that a deck instructor place her hand on his shoulder and reinforce the direction to stay there. Any other ideas? He was constantly jumping in when he wasn't supposed to. He gets very excited and doesn't listen. The teacher said the only reason it worked okay was that the other 2 kids were so well behaved, but she was definitely frazzled. The director said it was good that he listened the few times the deck instructor told him to stay. I just have a hard time explaining his disabilities to people who don't know much but need to.
Religious readiness class was okay, and they have had children with autism before. There are two sets of teachers who rotate and a couple of them are elem. teachers. They didn't seem overly excited to have him there. But, one of the moms that helped was a SLP who works with kids with autism and she gave them some helpful advice. For instance, he didn't "get" the story the read. So, she summed it up in two sentences that he could understand. We have to have this discussion again next week with the new set of teachers.
I'm not sure why I get so nervous. I feel like if I say too much, it will scare them. So, what are the keys things you share?
It might be a little early to be doing all this "typical" kid stuff, but he behaves well and I think the exposure to other kids is great for him. I want him to continue in swimming because it's one of the few exercise/sport activities that interest him and he needs the workout for his low tone. I just figured the RR class was better than sitting in church with us.
Thanks Kristy. I like the line about not being able to follow complex verbal directions and how to instruct him. I guess I just haven't done this enough to know what will work for him. I do know that he learns better if he has hand over hand assistance or a physical prompt instead of just verbal instructions.
Do you just assume they are okay with teaching him? Sometimes, when you say autism their eyes get so big.
My ds has a 1:1 in school for a few weeks and she knew nothing about