(originally written & published on August 17, 2012)
After posting pics this week from our lake vacation of my son jumping off the high dock into the water, a lot of people have asked how we taught our 9 year old severe/non verbal ASD son to swim. Here’s the short answer.
When he was younger he really had no fear and he would just walk into any body of water, no matter how cold or deep. We (mom & dad) would stop him because (a) he would swallow the water on purpose and (b) we aren’t strong swimmers and we were afraid that he would go in too deep and not know what to do.
When the king was about 5? we signed him up for one on one special needs swim lessons offered by a near by YWCA for an extemely fair price.
So one Saturday morning we gave our kid over to his first swim instructor, a big/tough 40something gentle giant named Noel.
We told Noel that our son wasn’t afraid at all but swallowed a lot of water. Noel proceeded to have him jump off the diving board into 10 feet of water…in the first lesson.
We were flabbergasted. Our kid could swim! Ok, not swim with purpose. He doesn’t do much with purpose. But he could tread water / doggie paddle like nobody’s business. And he got the concept of holding his breath and coming up for air right away.
And the swallowing water? Noel said, “he’ll learn if we just force him too…” And after a few lessons with Noel and a few strange colored pee-pees he cut down on the drinking dramatically.
We had Noel for one glorious year and then, poof, he was gone and the king has had a few other one one one YWCA instructors since then. The Sunday morning Y swim lesson is now a staple in his life. But none of the instructors were as good or as tough and bold as Mr Noel.
And has the king made a ton of progress in his swimming over the past 4 years? Not really. He is still a great swimmer, but he doesn’t love it as much as he once did. You could say that he used to be OBSESSED with swimming. He would stay in the pool for as long as he could, no matter how cold the water.
Now he’s a bit more typical in a way. He gets cold in the water very fast and wants to get out…or he isn’t in the mood. Or he just wants to do flips, or swim to the bottom.
But he can still doggie paddle crazy good. When I’m in the deep end with him I’m kicking my legs like crazy to stay afloat and I look over at the king and he’s just moving his legs ever so slightly, exerting very little energy to stay afloat. It’s crazy! I started using a noodle in the deep end just to keep up with him.
So mommy still plans his weeks with at least 2-3 pool visits a week, even in the winter.
Besides the Sundays at the Y, our son also gets a one to one OT (occupational therapy) session in a pool on Tuesday afternoons, after school. We pay out of pocket for this and get reimbursed 70% thru my insurance company…when they feel like it.
The OT has been great and really worked on getting him to follow directions and has started trying to get him to swim in a straight line. When he’s motivated he could be swimming laps. But keeping him motivated is always the problem with the king.
We have visions of seeing him in the special Olympics one of these days. But he’s gotta learn swimming in a straight line first. But we want to keep swimming fun for him. Because once it becomes “work” in his mind he’ll probably shut down.
So for now we have a 9 year old who can swim better than his mom and dad (although that’s not saying much) and really enjoys it, when the stars are aligned and it’s not too cold and he doesn’t want to do something else, like stim in the sand.
And for now we are fine with this. And we are thrilled that we’ve found something that our son excels in and is maybe more advanced at than a typical 9 year old.
I said in a Facebook post once awhile back that there’s 2 things the king does better than his typical peers, swim and take pills.
Now if only taking pills was a Special Olympics event.
🙂
THE END!!
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My son does a mean Doggy-paddle too! It's wonderful to see them having so much fun, isn't it? :-)
Raye in CB here, our guy was the same, no fear of water a few scares. A few years ago he indicated he wanted to take off his life jacket, we were in an indoor pool so I thought well, what the heck at least we will know and can save him here rather than tring this in the ocean. What a swimmer he is and his little sister is a fish. He copies her and jumps under water, does rolls and back floats. A good ability to have since we live on an island:) Some times our kids just amaze us.... now what I need to know is what is the trick to pills? Cause that is one thing our 12 year old does not get....
My son was very interested in the diving and gymnastics portions of the Olympics. He now tries some funny looking jumps into our pool. I'm waiting to see if he attempts a handstand dive!
My 10 year old (who seems very much like your son) has never had swim lessons but is totally amazing in the pool. He swims like he is a dolphin. He just moves his body and legs to move. He can stay under water for a long period of time. It is really cool to watch.
I love reading your posts and how you just throw it all out there! You're awesome!
Since he gets cold so quickly, it might be worth investing in a wetsuit of some kind. A lot of my NT kids get cold so quickly, yet refuse to leave the pool, so we invested in a wetsuit of sorts to keep them warmer.
How did you teach him to swallow pills?
Yes please help me my son won't take medicine.
He also has epilepsy
mine either, he eats anything we put in his mouth, so bitter tasting pills are awful...
i open capsules and mix with either yogurt, applesauce...etc
for very bitter pills, i used to crush them, then mix the powder in chocolate sauce or nutella, or honey, anything appealing to the individual. a pharmacist once told me the trick to mask the most bitter pill taste is chocolate sauce and maraschino cheeries juice!!!
we started with small pieces of grapes first .... only 3 per/day. 2 or 3 days later, he said he was ready. Every day(with grapes first) he had a reward for trying 3 pieces of grapes ... he chose his reward from 3 options I gave him based on his interests (a pieces of candy, 10 minutes of computer or video game time, or small toy from dollar store )
Well I am new to your blog, but of the ones I have read, I am becoming more certain that we have the same child with few differences except mine is 8 years old. It is oddly refreshing to be able to hear from someone else who goes through many of the same things we do. Thank you. Maybe one day we will meet at the special Olympic swimming and pill taking competitions!
My son did the same thing! I had him wearing a suit that had a float device in it until he was 7 (it was MUCH too small too, LOL) I took it off one day and he jump in and swam! I was floored! He can swim just fine in a pool, but we had a VERY scary incident in the Ocean!
http://mymichelelasvegas.blogspot.com/2011/08/dont-underestimate-power-of-this-beauty.html
my son was the same way when he learned to swim. He has no fear and loved to be in the water I am a strong swimmer and have taught kids to swim, but I am not a professional. I taught all 3 of my kids to swim by the age 5, we lived at the lake so I knew I could not stop them from going. My middle son does flips off the diving boards. All of my kids go to a water park durnig the summmer and have been to the big ones in Dallas TX. As for teaching a child to swollow a pill: I made my daughter put it in her mouth and drink water. she finially learned to swollow them that was. My daughter is "normal" my oldest is PDD and my middle son is legally blind in one eye.