Jon has been swimming for years, both casually with the family in the pool/lake, as well as in formal classes (at school and Bloorview). He really enjoys swimming, and works hard during classes, usually coming home dog-tired. At Sunny View they (roughly) followed the Red Cross swimming badge program, altering the techniques to varying extents, depending on the kids’ disabilities. After the first beginner’s badge or two (put face in water, blow bubbles, float, etc.) Jon’s progress flattened out somewhat. Even when he’s wearing a float belt, it’s difficult for him to coordinate his limbs forcefully enough to propel him in a given direction without a lot of physical support from his helper. Result: Blub.
However, after the last term of Bloorview classes, his instructor hit upon a potential game-changer, which we hope she and Jon can develop next term. She discovered that Jon floats very nicely on his back without the extra human support (unlike on his front), and so may be able to learn elementary backstroke as his functional stroke. She sent him home after his last class with this nice note:
Much of Jon’s academic development has been like this—long periods of relative stasis followed by huge leaps forward in development: Learning how to read and write in Tami’s class; learning columnar addition and subtraction in Denis’s class—these were developmental changes that were almost breathtaking in their scope and sheer rapidity. The interesting thing is you never know when or how these leaps are going to take place—even a gifted teacher may or may not “click” with your kid’s skills or personality. In Jon’s case, the best teachers have been tenacious ones: Ones who are willing to constantly throw stuff at him to see what sticks, but at the same time have the imagination to try things from different angles. Can we add to this short list of lightbulb moments a physical accomplishment? We’ll see!
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Tamiko says:
March 8, 2011 at 12:29 am (UTC 0)
way to go Jon!
Grandma says:
March 8, 2011 at 5:03 am (UTC 0)
Awesome, Jon! You rock!
Alayne says:
March 9, 2011 at 12:45 am (UTC 0)
That’s fantastic! Once someone finds a way to get around in the water by themselves (i.e. no floatbelt) they often start making other amazing discoveries about what else they can do. What kind of front pull is he currently using?
Peter Cook says:
March 9, 2011 at 9:38 am (UTC 0)
The current teacher seems to think that the breast stroke is working better for him, as up til then he was basically doing a cross between dog paddle and front crawl, but it didn’t seem to want to progress to full crawl mode. She’s focusing on swim, pause to breathe, etc. Then she’ll move from there…