Swim lessons?

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-13-2004
Swim lessons?
10
Mon, 05-05-2008 - 5:01pm

So, has anyone tackled swim lessons??? Did you go to a standard school/group class? At home? Autism specific?


It's getting to be that time of year again. In the past few years DH, Bryce and I have enjoyed quite a bit of time in my aunt and uncles pool. But I'm worried about this year. My normally excessively cautious little guy has absolutely NO fear of water, and seems to think that he can swim. He's so much bigger and stronger than last year. Also, I worry about the possibility of him getting to the pool when someone isn't looking (or even just not quite close enough to stop him).


We have a swim school in our county that provides one on one teaching with an instructor trained to work with children on the spectrum. I am on the waiting list, but last I called they said it could be 4 months or more! I'm thinking I need to look at other options.


I'd love to hear anyones experience with swim training.


Thanks,


Eris

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
In reply to: erisw
Mon, 05-05-2008 - 5:08pm

This is something we've gone around about too.

                                

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-04-2007
In reply to: erisw
Mon, 05-05-2008 - 5:41pm

We did group and private lessons through our local YWCA.

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-25-2005
In reply to: erisw
Mon, 05-05-2008 - 5:56pm

Mine were a little older when they did lessons (they started around 6-8-10yrs). We did them at our community pool. Lessons were taught by the owners who are very community-minded and kid-oriented people. Their classes were not one-on-one but didn't have more than six kids per class, I think. They were great at pushing but not scaring the kids.

My 9 & 13yo AS kids are still lousy swimmers, but I worry less about them in water now.

Also, my kids always wore those cheapy $1 store water wings. They work amazingly well. When my kids got too big but didn't yet know how to swim, I got some water wings geared to larger kids at Walmart. Obviously you still wouldn't leave your child unattended, but it gave me an emergency back-up in case my kids tried to do something without my catching them in time. If we were near water, my kids wore them whether they were in the water or not.

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-25-2003
In reply to: erisw
Mon, 05-05-2008 - 6:35pm

We mostly taught the kids to swim ourselves. They will win no points for style, but both can swim fine in deep water. We joined a local community center and used to take them swimming every Sunday during the winter. Thy just learned by swimming around with us, chasing toys and using the kickboards. We took things very easy -no pressure.

They also learned some stuff in summer camp.

We have repeatedly tried to get them to take real lessons, but both have flat-out refused

-Paula


visit my blog at www.onesickmother.com

-Paula

visit my blog at www.onesickmother.com
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-28-2007
In reply to: erisw
Mon, 05-05-2008 - 7:35pm

Interestng how this came up today. Cian's spec ed pre-k teacher is offering swim lessons for an hour a day, 5 days in a row. She is doing one on one for 30 mins and then social skills/turn taking for the last half hour. I have the boys going two separate weeks (ie: a week each). Its only $100 for each week ($20 per hourly session).

Up to now I was scared to launch Liam into a swim lesson set up, but this seems perfect.

Dee

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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-03-2004
In reply to: erisw
Tue, 05-06-2008 - 7:32am

Starting very young, Malcolm (now 10) tried group classes in swimming and those never were very good for him. So we went private -- or for a long time, in a dyad with another friend. He has had both special ed teachers and not, the most important thing we found is a teacher who loves kids! His best swimming teacher had no specialized training, but made him work like crazy and he did great.

He is not "into" swimming, but he'll do laps sometimes. He sure is comfortable in the water now. Swimming is a favorite summer activity.

Sara

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-28-2003
In reply to: erisw
Tue, 05-06-2008 - 10:06am

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-30-2003
In reply to: erisw
Tue, 05-06-2008 - 10:22am

Bug took them last year and had a special one-on-one session with a neighbor she knew who happened to be a lifeguard. (I think that really helped.) She did try to do some classes with the kids, but she was so small even compared to kids a year younger than she was, and with her sensory issues, she hated teh feeling of floating. She was ok as long as she could touch bottom.

I'm hoping that this year Allie is there again (our neighbor) and that Em can deal more with being in the deeper end, and remember what she learned last year.

Impulse control is a concern for us also - especially regarding the pool and the fact that she thinks she can swim better than she really can. (Plus she doesn't realize that while she may have been pretty good at the end of last summer, she's not been near the water at all and you tend to be out of practice without realizing it.)

Good luck! If Allie doesn't lifeguard this year, I'm not sure what we'll do.



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iVillage Member
Registered: 05-02-2003
In reply to: erisw
Tue, 05-06-2008 - 12:21pm
The group lessons never worked for Everett.
 

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
In reply to: erisw
Tue, 05-06-2008 - 1:15pm

We have done both with Owen and one on one has definately worked best.