K.C. and Big Brother had alot of company swimming today! The best part of all, K.C. did great as long as nobody looked him directly in the eye. I watched him carefully and noticed straight away when someone is near him he'll stick around alot longer if no one is looking him straight in the eyes. I asked his swimmer buddies to not look him in the eye to see what happens. Sure enough, he was more at ease and seemed happier. Big Brother had a blast with College Boy but didn't really play with the other kiddos. I think he was afraid someone was going to try to take him into the deep end.
I am kinda at a stand still with K.C.'s swimming. He has no fear of the water and I want to teach him to swim. Should I take off the vest? How do I go about teaching him to swim? Without the vest he'll walk right off into the deep end. Does anyone know which steps I should take in teaching him to swim? I'm wondering if he'll teach himself? I guess I had better do some reading into teaching Autistic kids to swim.
5 comments:
Tina, the eye avoidance thingreminds me so much of Amanda's post:
http://ballastexistenz.autistics.org/?p=110
Great observation!
I'm trying to figure out how to go about teaching Conor to swim, too. Looking forward to hearing any suggestions you receive!
I am so happy they had such a great day.
Sam loves to dance to some of his favorite songs, but God forbid we look at him and smile when he does it. We have learned that if we want him to continue most activities, we too can't look at him. I am okay with the not eye contact. I think it adds a lot of anxiety for them at times. I think we can all relate to anxiety at a time or another.
I was just at an autism conference and there was a booth there that had these vest the float them but also teach them to swim and bouyancy be slowely over time removing tubes from inside. They were pretty pricey and if I can find the name of the company I will let you know.
You are such a great mommy and I love hearing about how far you have come in taking KC out and on more trips. You are awesome!
Tina, Henry has taken swimming lessons for several years now through Easter Seals. Do you have an Easter Seals location near you?
Henry is a bit different from K.C. in that he was not as brave around water in the beginning. (I am so lucky that Henry is not as fearless as some of the kids I read about!)
His current swim instructor is so awesome- she is working through all the Red Cross levels with him and gives us a certificate when he has completed a new level. She has taught him to pull himself out of the pool at the edge, which is very important for water safety, and she is also teaching him how to help someone else get out of the water if they need help!
The lessons cost $15 for each half hour session, which does add up, week after week, but sometimes the grandparents help us out with the expense.
SCARRRYYYYYYYYY GOOD LUCK..
My little guy loves to swim, but he shows no fear and that can be scarey.
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