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Post by Jodi on Jun 20, 2005 18:08:38 GMT -5
Anyone put their kids in swim lessons? I'm curious about the age and group size/private lessons. Any good/bad experiences, etc. Thanks. Jodi PS - We're back from vacation. Ryan caught a fish (waaaay cool), and I would love to post some pics but that one post FREAKED me out, so I'm holding off on any picture posting .
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Post by Ashlea on Jun 20, 2005 20:11:33 GMT -5
Chandler has taken private lessons twice at our local YMCA. He did great, but is still a little afraid of the water.
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Post by hannahph on Jun 20, 2005 20:33:52 GMT -5
My daughter does aquatic therapy once a week and loves it, her therapist also started a swim lesson that was adapted to kids with disabilities. They only had 3 kids in the class for more individual attention and did great! My daughter now loves to go underwater and is just like a fish! I am so glad because I am not a strong swimmer and I always wanted her to love the water like her Daddy (who is a white water rafting guide) Maybe you could check with your son's therapist to see if they know of any programs to start out with. Good luck!
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Post by CC on Jun 20, 2005 20:40:07 GMT -5
Chris has taken a few private lessons at our local pool and just recently had 7 private lessons @ our local Y. Most things now I find Chris actually does better in groups, as he loves to compete and show off some BUT with swim lessons, I personally prefer the private. Guess it really depends on the child CC ~
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Post by Jessie on Jun 21, 2005 6:54:33 GMT -5
I don't think they ever had private lessons for Jason - they had a pool so he grew up around the water. And, he is a little fish for it too! Strangely, that's the ONE place that Mother Hen (Brian) can actually relax because he knows Jason can swim and that he won't run off because it's impossible to get him OUT of the pool!!
Jessie
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Post by Haleysmom on Jun 21, 2005 8:19:17 GMT -5
Haley ADORES the beach and told me she wants to take surfing lessons ;D so about a year and 1/2 ago I enrolled her in private swim lessons. She loves swimming. I have to say her biggest fear in pool water is depth (not a problem at the beach because she can walk in to the depth she is comfortable in) her teacher is hard on her, pushes her which is exactly what she needs. I know Haley is not too happy DURING the lesson, but reaps the benefits and LOVES that she can do it because of Ms. Peach. It can get costly, so I only have her in 1/2 lesson every other week. Between that and gymnastics she keeps us busy!
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Post by Staci on Jun 21, 2005 8:30:57 GMT -5
Not yet, but I want to get him in it!
Staci
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Post by Jenifer on Jun 21, 2005 9:00:25 GMT -5
I hate to be the voice of negativity, but Joy didn't do very well in swimming lessons because I think socially she wasn't ready.
She loves the water and can doggie paddle pretty well, even w/o a floatie on. She followed along well with the instruction and understood what was going on, but she was overly eager and not very excited about taking turns. A platform was placed in the water for the kids to stand on while one child was being worked with individually, and Joy ALWAYS swam off the platform. She just wanted to swim, and I can't fault her for that--it's what she was there for. But she had no regard for the structure of the class, and had to have a second staff person at every class just to keep her on the platform. She would also push other kids off the platform to try to get them to swim. It was frustrating and we even decided not to go to the last two lessons just because we were so stressed.
I think she might do better when she's a little older. I checked into private lessons, but around here they're $30 for 30 minutes, which I think is a little pricey. For now, we're just swimming with her a lot, trying to teach her skills ourselves. I don't mean to be negative, but social interaction is necessary for success in a group setting like this. Joy is normally a very nice little girl who plays well with others, but her excitement and love of swimming turned her into a handful.
Just my experience...good luck!
Jenifer, mom to Joy
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Post by Evans Dad on Jun 21, 2005 9:13:41 GMT -5
Hey Jodi
We have had Evan in swim lessons since he was about 5mnths old, he is now 2.5 and loves the water. He started at the YMCA in waterbabies and has progressed to lessons with kids his own age. We kind of have an advantage since Grandma and Grandpa have a big pool as well.
Good Luck Clint
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Post by marisa on Jun 21, 2005 11:44:09 GMT -5
I plan to look into swimming lessons in the fall. That may sound like a strange time, but I can take her when big sister is in school.
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Post by Cathy on Jun 21, 2005 11:55:04 GMT -5
Katie took swimming lessons last fall (and will again this summer and fall). The fall lessons are in a pool, the summer in the lake.
Katie did very well, she is 4.5 and I put her in the infants class because a) she cannot stand in the shallow without it being over her nose and 2) there was more one on one (only one other child in the class)
Katie faired well, but like Joy she didn't like the structure as much as the swimming. Katie loves the water and is not afraid to jump off the side of the pool or put her head underwater.
We decided on swim lessons for two reasons: a) the best kind of PT you get and b) we have a lot of lakes in our area and I wanted her to know how to act in the water.
I would have put Katie in lessons when she was younger, but the pool is 40 minutes away, and with the Yooper winters I wasn't willing to travel that far in the winter on a regular basis.
Good luck and any decision you make, will be the best for you and your child.
Hugs,
Cathy
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Post by raysammom on Jun 21, 2005 14:35:53 GMT -5
Wow I was at the ped yesterday and I was explaining how much Samantha loved the water. Well there is a new ped in our office and he said don'tput her in swimming lessons until she's older she just won't get it. I was so pissed I just looked at him at said I think your the one that doesn't get it. Needless to say I told the ped I love and she said she would talk to him, because she is very encouraging with Samantha.
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Post by Jodi on Jun 21, 2005 21:58:54 GMT -5
Thanks for your posts! We are going to "take a dive" in a couple of weeks and start lessons!
Jodi
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Post by wrblack on Aug 15, 2005 14:39:51 GMT -5
Well, a couple of long snips from other boards that are not totally on topic for this thread, but certainly related. I thought of the first one when I first saw this but didn't have it handy, stumbled across it today. And in the meantime had seen this story about young man with autism and his swimming lessons. Just sharing -- Bob
<< At First Glance By Edwin Leap, M.D.
The value of a life is always more than meets the eye.
_____
Vacationing near a mountain lake in Tennessee, I watched as a woman began the walk from her cabin to the pool where my children and I were playing. From a distance, I wasn't sure if she was old or young. She appeared heavy, wore a large hat and walked with a slightly awkward gait. It became clear as she drew closer she had been born with Down syndrome. She was probably in her late 20s or early 30s. She did not carry herself with grace or elegance. She was pale, and her one-piece bathing suit was plain, like those that grandmothers wear as they watch their grandchildren splash in the warm water on beaches at low tide.
I was a little anxious. No family or friends accompanied her. She placed her towel on a lounge chair, sat down and faced the clear water. I wondered if she understood the danger and depth of the pool as she sat relaxed near the deep end. My triple engines of worry, fatherhood and medical degree began to make me anxious.
She moved to the edge of the pool, and I fidgeted. Was she even supposed to be there? Was someone looking for her, concerned she might come to harm? I quietly wondered these things as she slid into the water and began to glide across the pool with the even, silent strokes I have always desired but never accomplished. I don't believe my jaw dropped, but I'm sure my eyes widened. I laughed to myself. She had spent years swimming; for all I knew she may have been a Special Olympian. The water received and embraced her.
Her kicks were quiet, and the cyclic movements of her arms made no splash on the surface. Her breathing was relaxed and measured, and one might have assumed she was some aquatic creature born and raised in the depths of the ocean. The body that seemed cumbersome on land became graceful and elegant the second she pushed away from the ladder. Her awkwardness dissolved in the water; she was transformed before my eyes.
Too often, those of us with healthy bodies and minds imagine that our world, the one in which we individually dwell, is the best one. We believe, falsely, that imperfect lives are malformations and mutations that should never have occurred. It's easy to make sweeping statements about quality of life when our reference is the quality of our own. I saw in that young woman how easily I could be wrong and how wonderful it was to see the truth.
Sometimes I mistakenly think God's destiny for certain groups is a thing that will begin when He makes them whole, that somehow, those with genetic anomalies or debilitating medical problems will simply have to suffer through and that we will suffer as we care for them until such time as they enter God's presence through death, or He returns to renew all life in the way originally intended.
But the truth is, I can't discern her quality of life. And I have no idea of God's destiny for her. I suspect her quality of life is wonderful, if her swimming was any indication. And she lives, so God must have something in store for her. Maybe we are only a discovery away from a chemical or genetic manipulation that will "cure" her, and with a subtle flick of a biological switch, an activation of what someone thought was "junk DNA," transform her into something hidden in her chromosomes all along: world-class athlete or intellectual giant. Maybe not.
More likely, the ultimate value of her life is something I will never know. God is under no obligation to explain these things to me. I think He smiles as I ponder them, but He will reveal them only in His good time. All I know is that in a few laps across the pool, that young woman showed me that every life has more value than I can ever begin to see, and more wonder and potential than I can imagine. >>
<< A Gift from John Karl A local hero
By Michele Iallonardi
Last year, I read that one of our local autism organizations was partnering up with a local swim program. They agreed to pay half the cost for a six week trial of one-to-one swimming lessons. I thought about this for months. I was so nervous to hand my son over to a stranger in the pool, even though I'd be right on the other side of the wall, watching.
Jackson can be tough to work with if you don't understand him. He does not talk - he has never spoken a word - and so communication is definitely very limited. For a three year old, he can actually be pretty intimidating. I was reluctant to sign him up.
I'm not sure why, but one day last fall, I changed my mind and decided to do it. I called Saftswim and explained our situation. I spoke with Candace, and shared my concerns about Jackson, and what I hoped his instructor would be to him. She suggested John, and so we set up our first 6 week session with him.
Like a nervous (or should I say totally neurotic?) mom, when we arrived at Safe t swim, I was totally freaking out. The instructor was a teenager! My heart started beating fast as I walked into the pool area. Quickly, I blurted out "he has autism, he doesn't talk, he doesn't really understand a lot, etc, etc, etc." John just smiled and said, okay, don't worry about it. I'll take it easy, we'll be fine." And I had to walk out of the room, to the other side of the one way glass. I can't believe we're doing this, I thought.
We went into that room, and sat with the other parents who were watching their children swimming around. I sobbed for the first ten minutes.
My son was having fun. No preparations, no planning, no programming. My son was having a good time - just like every other kid in the room - for the first time in his life. Most things in his life- especially most new things in his life - are very stressful. This, however, was not. He was just a boy, in the pool, having fun.
Now of course, we totally can't afford one to one swim lessons! But Jackson kept swimming. Month, after month, after month, we signed up. Always with John. There were times when John would be out, and Jackson would have to swim with a covering instructor. It never worked out. Usually it was because the instructor was nervous or uncomfortable with Jackson. They didn't know what to do with him, or what he liked, or what he was capable of. We would end up walking back and forth into the pool room to talk to them. It got to the point where if John was out, Candace would call us and see if we wanted to cancel. For Jackson, the lessons were a waste if they weren't with John.
In March of 2005, after Jackson had been swimming with John for over 6 months, I wrote a letter to the owner, telling him what a wonderful experience swimming had been for us. It was all because of John, and his natural way with Jackson. It amazed me how someone so young (John was only 18) could be so wise, so kind, just so good with my son. We were extremely lucky to have found such a good match. Jackson was very comfortable in the water. He was learning to kick, to dunk his head under, and to jump in the pool. His trunk strength increased from learning to climb out of the pool, and he was very interested in the other kids who were getting lessons around him. Swimming here was just so much more than we had hoped for.
It carried over into his daily life. He seemed more confident and independent. Jackson became very comfortable in the water, and swimming is something that we really started to enjoy together. Jackson loved swimming with John and we really looked forward to taking him there. It was a nice way to end the week- after all, he works so hard- this was just pure joy. Innocent, easy, typical fun, which was hard to come by for our son.
Memorial Day weekend 2005, everything changed. I was away at an autism conference. My husband took Jackson to swimming at 7:30p.m. on Friday night. He decided to take a picture of Jackson and John and send it to me on the camera phone. Later when we spoke about that night, he told me Jackson was John's last student for the night, and that John's friends were waiting for him to get off work. Jackson swam with John that night, and had a great time.
That was the last time.
The next morning John was driving with a friend, and had a terrible accident. His friend died. John was taken to the hospital where he was put on life support. We found out about it on Tuesday morning. John was taken off life support Tuesday night. I'm numb as I write this, as it was only a few weeks ago.
I have cried a thousand tears.
And who am I? Just a mom, of a little boy, who swam with John for 30 minutes a week. A mom of a boy who has autism.
I am devastated by the loss of this young man. For the obvious reasons- a young life lost, a sweet, kind young man, taken a way. But more, for the not so obvious reasons. This is a young man who changed my life, one who has given me a gift that no one else has been able to.
Jackson's 3 and a half years have been difficult, complete with both medical and developmental problems. He has had surgery 3 times. He has undergone countless medical procedures, evaluations, etc. While I was pregnant with him, doctors told me that he might not survive the pregnancy. Jackson's life was difficult even before he was born. Almost every aspect of Jackson's life was complete with worry.
Not this one. For 30 minutes, once a week, I got to be a regular mother. Just a mom, watching her son swimming around and having fun. I got to feel normal. I got to see what life is like on the other side. That was John- giving me what no other person or experience has been able to.
And that won't happen anymore. After John passed away, I went back to Safe t swim to bring some pictures for a scrapbook that they were going to put together for his family. I knew when I walked in that door that Jackson could never go back. I could barely stand there and hand the pictures over. This couldn't be happening- not to this amazing kid. It doesn't make sense. I hardly made it out the door, crying through the parking lot, sobbing into my car. Life just isn't fair. A few weeks earlier, I had talked to John about stopping swimming lessons in August. At this point in Jackson's development, we knew that he was not ready to really learn to swim independently. He had gotten a lot out of his swimming lessons already- confidence, strength, socialization, and fun. He had achieved more than I'd ever expected. But we just didn't want to stop yet. Even though it was expensive for us, Jackson was just having too much fun. God, how my husband and I loved this kid. When we went to the wake, we introduced ourselves to his family. How could I explain to them what an impact he had on our lives? What a special person we thought he was? How could we express how our lives would never be the same? My sorrow was so great, that I could not even begin to imagine theirs. And I am just the mom of another boy. A boy who has autism. A boy who doesn't know that his teacher is gone. A boy whose life will not be the same without him. I learned from his parents that John had always been a compassionate person. He worked with children and animals for years and years. When he passed away, they donated his organs and he helped save four people. You saved me too John. You gave me a glimpse into a window that I hadn't seen. We keep the picture of you and Jackson in his room, from the last day that you swam together. I will make sure that Jackson understands what you did for us. You gave us an amazing gift, and we will never forget you. >>
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Post by Jessie on Aug 15, 2005 15:12:17 GMT -5
Uh, Bob, next time could you give us some warning that we could possibly bawl like babies reading a post? There are some hormonal women out here ya know!
Loved the first story, made me really think about things. Loved the second story, made me cry.
Jessie
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