Special Needs Swim Meet
Special needs swim meet
Athletic teams for our special needs kids
The makeup of my son’s swim team
My son is a member of a VIP swim team. The team is not restricted to children with autism only, nor is it restricted to only children. There are adults on the older team. One adult, for example, is blind.
On my son’s team, which is a team designed for less experienced swimmers, there are kids with Downs Syndrome and other afflictions. Some kids have to swim with an instructor, but others are fully independent.
There are all ages and abilities in this VIP league.
Is there a difference between an individual sport and a team sport for our kids?
The chemistry on this swim team is different.
For example, it is much less competitive. Both swimmers and parents.
His VIP soccer team consists mostly of kids on the autistic spectrum. Some are mild, like my son, others are less functioning. One is non-verbal, and a few of them need assistance in order to participate. Even that team has a different chemistry, yet still isn’t all that competitive.
Other differences
Soccer is a team sport and the soccer instructors want to teach the players how to participate as a team.
The coordination and performance are different than swimming.
I marvel at the soccer coach as he tries to motivate our kids to pass to one another and play as a team. He expends a great deal of energy mixed with tons of enthusiasm.
What about swimming?
The swim instructors focus more on the individuals. They teach the strokes and try to build up endurance.
For example, a swimmer should be able to learn four or five different strokes while consistently doing them lap after lap. Eventually, they gain speed with their strokes.
Within a competition, swimming is an individual sport (unless you’re in a medley). Yet, each individual swimmer is also a part of a team.
A VIP team, where kids have a large range of issues (spectrum or not), creates many challenges for the instructors.
How do swimmers practice a team mentality?
As opposed to soccer games, swimming teams have swim meets. The kids race each other (typically they are paired by similar ability in groups of six or seven).
Each kid has three races. Usually they encompass multiple strokes. (Free style is the most common, but our kids also learn butterfly, breaststroke, and backstroke).
How do I fit in?
As an athlete and sports fan, I have attended thousands of sporting events. Some I have participated in over the years, others I was purely a spectator.
However, by middle age, I had yet to even attend a swim meet until last fall.
VIP swim meets are big events. There are many heats (races), yet the kids have to deal with some lengthy wait times.
Waiting
Waiting for our kids is not always easy, especially in a situation with lots of people and lots of noise. During my sons’ first VIP swim meet, I found myself walking him around to distract him.
However, my son was not the only one bouncing all over the place, there were several kids who had to regulate their bodies for the four hour event.
How about now?
My son has experienced two VIP swim meets.
He learned to root for his fellow swimmers as well as learn how to compete at a level above a regular swim practice.
How was a swimming meet different than a soccer game?
IMHO, soccer games pretty much resemble soccer practices.
Swimming meets are a big event with some challenges. The way the athletes compete differs.
For example, my son struggled with the difference between swimming a 25 (one length of the pool) and a 50 (two lengths, down and back). He had to learn to turn around and swim all the way the back to the other end.
Also, my son struggled with what stroke to use. He would forget and swim his “go to” stroke, free style.
What’s the take away?
For my son, he likes the soccer, but the swimming feels good on his body. He does it three times a week for one hour each time. And, if you throw in a swim meet, that’s a lot of swimming in one week. He regulates his body while exercising.
Swimming is a wonderful sport for our kids.
Many kids on the spectrum have trouble learning a sport that involves an entire team interaction. They have trouble taking direction from a typical coach and trouble with the team concept.
I’ve played on enough teams to know that my son would not like the experience that I had.
Swimming is great for our kids. Learning how to swim is practical and beneficial for children on the spectrum. And, lots of fun, too.
For more activities with your autistic child, read here:
http://autismspectrumathletics.org/sports_programs
More on Kimberly Kaplan:
Go to Amazon.com to purchase “Two Years of Autism Blogs Featured on
ModernMom.com”
www.smashwords.com or Amazon Kindle ebook “A Parents’ Guide to Early
Autism Intervention”
Twitter: @tipsautismmom