Topic > Swimming for Children with Autism

The crystal clear water was wavy after all the children started diving. The children all filed in through the small door and couldn't wait to get their turn to enter the pool. The nine lanes were all filled with children who for some reason couldn't wait to complete their swimming lessons. Those who teach these kids the skills they will use throughout their lives sit patiently in the wards waiting for their children to arrive. Children aged 18 months to 12 years, boys and girls, range throughout the pool. I sit in aisle nine, waiting patiently for my last baby of the day to arrive. On any other Sunday I would have been home now, however on this particular Sunday I was asked to stay an extra two hours to teach swimming lessons. I've been teaching for about two months so far and I like my job. I can take part in children's lives by teaching them useful skills. Like everyone else, we are all fairly new to teaching. From the window I can see my next student. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The clock said 1:35, so they were late. The student did not look familiar and it was especially strange that this lesson was private and one-on-one. Teaching swimming lessons had become second nature, however, I was not prepared for what lay ahead. The boy entered the pool area shaking his mother's hand. He looked nervous and his mother had an overwhelming look of stress on her face. By the time she reached me, her son had already jumped into the pool, which is disheartening. As I went to retrieve it, he gave me a fake laugh. “Hello Mr. Jonathan, I'm sorry. His name is Javier, he is twelve years old and has autism. He has little or no swimming experience and it is very difficult to understand what people say to him. But I hear you're the best teacher when it comes to working one-on-one with kids. Let's see what you can do with him. I made sure not to panic. I was usually good in these types of high-pressure situations. Especially in this one, where it was important not to overreact. If I hadn't done my job well, the face of the company and all the values ​​of the company would have been almost worthless. I didn't know, the child didn't speak and in the end he would have difficulty understanding what I would teach him. “Okay buddy, jump in the pool. We'll just start with basic kicking.” Before I could finish, he grabbed the splash pad, jumped into the water, and started kicking. In any other situation, if this had happened, the kid would have sitting on the edge of the pool, but I knew it would be a different situation. Punishing the kid for not knowing any better was not the solution to this. This would end up upsetting the parents and the child would be saddened too the child was controlling the class, but it's difficult when the child is only four years younger than you and has difficulty understanding the directions “Okay man, from here on out we will listen to everything Mr. Jonathan says. If you listen, eventually you'll get a tape, easy as that. If not, no tape at the end! I promise we'll have fun but the first rule of having fun is listening to the directions." I knew he couldn't talk to me but at least I hoped at this point he would listen to me. I remained calm throughout the lesson. It was essential for me to be firm in how I handled the lesson. If I let the guy take advantage of me and go against the curriculum, everything would be for nothing. I could tell the boy was gradually starting to feel more comfortable with everything. We have