I've mentioned the fact that Noah does SEN swimming sessions quite a few times before. That should go some way towards demonstrating just how big a part of our life it's become, and the effect that it's had, so I suppose it's only fair to dedicate a whole post to it.
Pre-Pandemic, we'd taken Noah swimming a handful of times. It's fair to say he didn't seem to enjoy the experience, and it hadn't exactly inspired us to keep going. This was all long before we had any idea that Noah was 'different', so we hadn't thought too much of it.
We'd taken him to a leisure centre that had a heated training pool within the main complex of the swimming facilities. It was loud, busy, and bright it was everything on the 'Nope!' list for an autistic child. Hindsight is a powerful thing huh?
Noah would fuss in the changing rooms, didn't like walking into the main pool area, and always, ALWAYS clung to us like a koala once we got into the water. It was clear that it wasn't his thing, at least, not yet. Then Covid hit, and swimming was firmly off the table anyway.
Late last year an old friend of ours contacted me about a special-needs swimming session she ran at our local pool. She had been worried to reach out to me, in case I was offended by the suggestion that my child might be "special". By this point, we'd come to know all about Noah and what his challenges might be, so I was better equipped to try again at swimming, and definitely not offended at the offer.
We went along to the first week with another autism parent friend I'd made a few weeks before. I didn't know what to expect, but we went with the best of intentions. I wrestled Noah into his swimming gear and entered the hydrotherapy pool area. It was quiet and warm, completely different to the main pool we'd tried before. Initially, Noah saw the water and recoiled. He started to climb up my body as if to say "Hell no!". Knowing that he sometimes needs a little bit of a push, I scooped him up in my arms and climbed into the water, lowering him gently down onto my lap. It was shallow, so I could sit down on the step at the edge and just give him time to realise how warm the water was. It was like a gigantic warm bath, and Noah loves a bath. He assumed the Koala position, but over the course of an hour his grip loosened, his brow unfurrowed, and he started to smile and babble at me. I even managed to get him on top of an inflatable alligator at one point, which he thought was fantastic! I was so impressed with how positive that first week had gone, that I committed to taking him every single week.
With every week we have attended, Noah's confidence has grown exponentially. He LOVES swimming, with a passion he's shown for little else except Hey Duggee and chocolate. By the second week, Noah was letting me take him up into the deep end, and standing on the steps in the shallow end on his own, but by the third, he was confidently being led by our friend the instructor whilst I videoed him kicking and giggling, and he has just continued to push himself. Our friend is fantastic at unlocking children with additional needs, from using watering cans to pour the water over their hands to encourage them to let go of mummy, to blowing bubbles in the water to get them to lower their face into it, she just seems to understand how to interact with them, and she has endless patience. Now, Noah will fight to be free of me as soon as we get in the water, stand up in the shallow end on his own, smiling, and bounce-walk himself further into the deep end, until he's up to his chin. He's fearless! He will tolerate us following him around to keep him safe, but the more independent he is, the happier he is. He'll even try to dive back in fully clothed after the session if I let him!
One of the things I love about it is that straight after the children's session, there is an adult session. Usually, there's a bit of a cross over in the changing area, and they'll stop to chat. They smile and talk to Noah, and ask me how he's getting on in the water and if he enjoys it. When we received Noah's official diagnosis, I let them know the following week at swimming, and the response was so lovely.
"Ah mate you're like me!" One of them said, "good lad!". It feels patronising to say, but having worried so deeply about what Noah's future may look like, it's been a real comfort to meet adults who were once little kids like Noah. They've been through the same struggles at a time when the educational support was, at best, lacking. If they can succeed under those kinds of conditions, then Noah, with his SEN school placement, and the best support I can give him, should thrive. Swimming has really boosted Noah's water confidence at home too. Although he always loved a bath, as soon as he could sit up, he refused to lay down in one, and would sometimes panic about it. This week, my husband called me up during bathtime to witness Noah laying back in the bath and swishing his hair and his ears under the water, something he loves doing when he's in the pool. It's such a heartwarming thing to see, our little boy is developing so much confidence, and that brings me so much hope for the future. Noah is proof that you should always try things more than once, if we hadn't tried swimming again, we would never have known what joy it brings him now.
Never stop trying to find your child's "thing".
Love this!