4 minute read
Expanding and Evaluating Opportunities for Inclusion
The weather is getting warmer and the summer season is right around the corner.
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BY ANGIE BAKER
HEAD TRAINER SWIMKIDS AQUATICS CENTER
As an industry, we are educating parents on water safety and drowning statistics. We are talking more about supervision and barriers. One statistic that we often don’t talk about enough is the high risk of drowning in children with special abilities, and particularly those with Autism. In 2016, the National Autism Society reported that drowning accounted for 91% of the accidental deaths among children with ASD, ages 14 and younger. This increases the risk of death by drowning more than two times that of the general population, making the need to learn to swim, imperative for this population.
Over the last several years, there has been a huge push for inclusion in the special needs community. The Special Olympics has worked with schools to create Unified Sports programs which integrate children with intellectual disabilities with other athletes to involve them in training and competition. Organizations like USA Swimming and both the US and American Youth Soccer Organizations, have also joined inclusion efforts, providing additional training resources for coaches.
As an industry, we can create opportunities for inclusion in our learn to swim programs. There is a wide range of diversity among individuals with special abilities, the level of accommodation needed can vary. Making your program more flexible and offering options for special abilities swimmers to integrate into group classes. This helps increase awareness and tolerance, self-confidence and self-esteem, and assists in providing the social skills and structure that special abilities children need to perform and interact in school or other social settings. This will also provide an opportunity to increase the number of children you are able to accommodate. Being open to reducing the number of children by one if needed, as a way to integrate a child with special abilities into a typical class is one option to consider, while another might be creating a small special abilities group class, where swimmers that are of the same swimming ability and personalities could be socialized together in a class.
Having an evaluation process in place to determine whether a child will be effective in a regular class or if they need more specialized instruction is a very effective way to determine what is best for the swimmer. We often find ourselves placing special abilities swimmers into a private class where we can control the learning environment. While this may be needed for some swimmers to be successful, many can thrive just as well in a group environment. Another challenge, is we often find that children are unintentionally enrolled into a typical class environment, that may not be in their best interest. Having a system to determine how to best place special abilities swimmers will help ensure that they are integrated into the best learning situation. Children with special abilities deserve the opportunity to participate and learn in the least restrictive environment whenever possible.
Another consideration in the inclusion process is the impact on your instructors. Have they been trained to work with special abilities swimmers and do they have the tools they need to run inclusive classes effectively? There are simple strategies and accommodations that a teacher can implement when working with a special abilities child in an inclusion environment that can help make the lesson more effective. • A simple change in a focus to identify the things the child is doing right could change the outcome of the entire class. Children with certain special abilities are often challenged to stay on task, resulting in frustration for the teacher. Finding a way to redirect them to what you want them to do, in a positive way instead of continuing to point out what you want them to stop, can be a quick way to turn around unwanted behavior. • Utilize teaching stations. Give swimmers different activities to focus on throughout the lesson allowing them the opportunity for exploration and practice. • Plan for transition time in between skills to allow time for processing. It can take up to 16 seconds for a child with an intellectual disability to process simple instructions.
Giving a child with special abilities the time needed to process information and instruction will help the inclusion class run smoother. • Plan for the lesson ahead of time. Provide specific objectives and communicate them to the swimmers when they get in the pool. Children with special abilities live by schedules and what is next. By including them in the process and letting them know what to expect, you are setting them up for a better class experience. • Most importantly, do not be afraid to make modifications to the skill or the way that it’s taught. Sometimes you have to think outside the box. “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” – Maya Angelou. Recent studies have shown that about 20% of all children face some type of special ability and are two to three times more likely to be bullied than the average child. By choosing inclusion, we are teaching children to learn together and focus on similarities rather than differences. Swimming is the great equalizer. Children with special abilities can perform in the water without noticeable differences from the general population. The fact is, every child is unique. They all deserve an opportunity to be safer around the water, treated with respect, given the opportunity to make friends, and be included.
Angie Baker is a member of the USSSA Special Abilities Committee, a group committed to expanding education for aquatics professionals in the area of Special Abilities aquatics. Check out our online course and our video training library, available through the US Swim School Association.
