Swim Buddy - Autism Spectrum Message Board

MirandaK89 · 02-11-2008, 01:22 PM

I am part of a swim buddy program that pairs college students with young children with a varying range of disabilities. I am paired with a 4 year old autistic boy. He's nonverbal and sometimes points at things but has pretty decent eye contact when you say his name. I've never worked with autistic children before and I'm not sure what I should do. He loves the water, and he loves, loves, loves to jump. Given his comfort level, I'd love to teach him some basic water survival skills but I'm not sure how. I don't know if i should push him at all, or just let him splash around and have fun. I only see him once a week and I'd like to make as much progress with him as possible. Any information would be very helpful! Thank you!

datgrlstef · 02-12-2008, 07:21 AM

Do you know sign language (and/or does he)? I don't see why you can't teach him basic skills... his eye contact is good, so it's likely he will pay attention. Just make it fun for him to keep his interest. I would suggest finding some pictures online of the basic skills- keep it simple, with just the main points. Children who are non-verbal can benefit from picture cards. You can point to them, show him the actions by doing them yourself, etc. Give him a copy so he can look at it later. (You can laminate pictures easily with clear contact paper). If he knows what to expect, he can follow along better.

MirandaK89 · 02-12-2008, 10:40 AM

Thank you so much, I'll give it a shot!

DannysMum · 02-13-2008, 02:41 PM

I took my little boy to swimming lessons purely to give him more interaction with other people. I wanted him to learn about working with other children etc

The first lesson was a nightmare, twizzling in the middle of the pool, shouting, singing, ignoring the teacher, disrupting everyone ( and enjoying every minute!!). This continued from lesson to lesson.

I've persevered, he doesn't listen to the teacher, I hold him while she's talking etc and then he hops round the pool. However, gradually...gradually he started to get the idea, and he is now swimming unaided (can do half a width without putting his foot down is he really puts his mind to it!)
However, we didn't make him swim,(we couldn't) but he was ALLOWED TO HAVE FUN . After weeks and weeks he settled down more. He still sings loudly and hops away from the teacher giggling when she tries to help him, he only swims when he is left to his own devices.
It's one big game.
So what am I trying to say? Let the child enjoy the water and have fun, and hopefully he will start to try swimming a little. Try not to get frustrated - laugh and clap all his tiny achievements.