Aquatics

Teaching techniques and strategies
In planning a program parents should be consulted, as they can be a valuable initial source of information regarding a child’s potential and preference for learning styles.

The most important thing to remember when working with children with autism is that no two children are alike, and each child will need to be programmed for individually. Whilst current teaching techniques in swimming may be useful or adapted for the child with autism, some of the following factors may exist and need to be taken into consideration.

• Children with autism have no sense of danger, hence, water safety principles should dominate teaching objectives.
• Some children may become over-excited in water; characterised by flapping at the water, jumping up and down, drinking the water and submerging repeatedly. It is best if this behaviour is controlled before the child becomes over excited (see Management in the next section).
• There may be a resistance to an area of the pool and a fear of such things as the water, surroundings, crowds. Some children may need to approach the pool slowly, over a session or over a few days, with gentle encouragement. Others will benefit from being taken into the water on the first visit. Check with parents first, as the level of anxiety in the child does not necessarily determine the approach.
• Tantrums, giggling and echolalic phrases of no apparent significance, for example reciting television commercials, songs and numbers may occur. These behaviours may also be due to fear of the unknown, newness of the situation or a change to the environment, such as seating arrangements and the position of equipment. It is not necessary to keep routines exactly the same but ideally changes should be introduced gradually and between familiar activities.
• Some children with autism have an unusual response to sound, touch, taste, smell and sight, for example they may be over-sensitive to an apparent light touch and often firm handling is preferred. They may be frightened by different sounds, smell items inappropriately or engage in eye/head movements as if ‘lining up’ the edge of the pool.
• Some children with autism lack the motivation to imitate and/or have difficulty with body awareness and organisation, hence it may be necessary to physically manipulate the child’s body through the desired movements. Similarly, some children with autism have problems learning through instruction.

Ensure you:

• Gain the child’s attention (use his/her name).
• Use simple, concrete and meaningful language appropriate to what is happening at that particular point in time.
• Limit distractions (face child towards edge of the pool away from the group of children or the reflection of the water).
• Demonstrate, prompt or where necessary physically manipulate the child’s body to show the child what the instruction means. Always pair physical assistance with a verbal instruction, the aim being that the child learns to respond to the verbal instruction alone.
• Use clear, precise instructions. Avoid words that may have a double meaning as children with autism often interpret language literally.
• Tell the child exactly what he/she is to do rather than instruct him/her to ‘stop’ inappropriate behaviour. For example, say ‘walk’ rather than ‘stop running’ and ‘hands down’ instead of ‘stop hitting’.
• Most children with autism who are verbal have difficulty answering ‘who’, ‘where’, ‘how’ and yes/no questions. A child that answers ‘no’ or repeats the question may mean ‘yes’ or vice versa. Some children are motivated by print, hence, written or visual instructions may be useful.

Management
In enforcing standards of behaviour throughout a lesson, consistency is vitally important; what you expect once, expect every other time.

Reward appropriate behaviour by praise, a favourite activity or piece of equipment, free time, a song or by giving the child specific attention (parents would be able to assist with likes and dislikes).

Where possible, gain verbal control, that is, when an instruction such as “Stand up” or “Sit down” is given, ensure the child responds appropriately with as little physical assistance as possible.

When a child is engaging in self-stimulatory behaviour, such as giggling, submerging under the water, it is likely that he/she will not hear instructions, hence ‘time out’ works most effectively. For example, give the child instructions, “Stand up” and “Quiet”. If the child continues the behaviour, put the child on the side of the pool for 30 seconds (not looking or talking to the child). When the child is quiet, bring him/her back into the pool and repeat the instruction, eg. “Quiet”. Repeat the procedure if the child continues the self-stimulatory behaviour.

Remember the behaviour is not an attack on you personally. It is often helpful to consider, not ‘how do I stop this behaviour?’ but ‘what does the child need to learn.’ For example, a child submerging constantly may need to learn how to ‘stand up’ or ‘sit still.’

To ensure the child is successful, it may be necessary to break down tasks to achievable steps. For example to achieve the aim of picking up an object from the bottom of the pool it may be appropriate to use the following progressions:

Stage 1 Pick up object from edge of pool.
Stage 2 Pick up object from surface of water.
Stage 3 Pick up object from just below water, eg. on hand.
Stage 4 Pick up object from second step.
Stage 5 Pick up object from pool floor.

Implications for aquatics: Water safety
It is important to teach children with autism the meaning of ‘hold on’ using as many different devices as possible, that is, the edge of the pool, sticks, clothing, rope, holding hands or floating aids.

To teach entering and exiting the water:

• Avoid teaching jumping into the water, as the child with autism is likely to enter the water in the manner taught without foreseeing any potential dangers in less controlled situations.
• Teach walking in, sliding in and more importantly, climbing out of the pool.

Break down entering and exiting tasks as referred to earlier.

You may need to entice the child to enter or exit the pool with favourite objects paired with an instruction to “Come”, “Come here”, “Walk in”, “Climb out” and so on.

Water Familiarisation and Developing Confidence
Action songs and dances known to the child may be useful to teach for a desired end, for example “Ring O’Rosey” for submerging or “Oranges and Lemons” for movement through the water (check with parents for familiar activities).

Allowing the child to experiment with water out of the pool is also an innovative strategy.

Giving Meaning to Instructions
To encourage submerging, use real, non-abstract objects such as hoops, sticks and rods, lowering the height gradually each time.

When encouraging the child to put their nose, ears and/or head into the water, put the child’s hand onto your nose and say, for example, “Put my nose in the water”, submerge, then place the child’s hand on their own nose, and repeat the instruction, “Put your nose in the water.”

Alternatively teach the child to lean forward and place his/her nose for example onto his/her hand, move the hand closer and closer to the water before giving the instruction, “Nose on hand.”

Skill Development
Some children are able to swim underwater or in a dog paddle fashion. Many of them can learn a more conventional efficient style. These styles, particularly the dog paddle, can be extended, eg. face in, then physically assisting arms to come gradually further and further out of the water. One stage does not necessarily precede another; floating, breathing and other water familiarisation activities may be difficult for the child with autism, hence, activities involving movement through the water such as the dog paddle, may be easier to teach.

Children learn to propel on their back first.

A useful task to facilitate this is:

• Swishing

Stand behind the swimmer with hands on hips or lower back and gently move backwards moving the swimmer in a swishing motion. This is an excellent exercise to promote relaxation of tense muscles and familiarise the swimmer with a supine position and the feeling of moving through the water.

Decrease speed and rocking movements for a more relaxed floating position, eg. stand behind the child, supporting his/her shoulder blades, then walk backwards, sculling underneath the child’s shoulders so that the turbulence created supports the child’s body, pulling them through the water. Kicking can be encouraged by gently rocking the hips.

Although correct breathing techniques are often difficult for the child with autism, blowing can be established by using objects such as bubble wands, cotton balls off the hand, table tennis balls and straws.

Whilst these are only a few ideas many methods and activities can be used to teach the same skills. Be creative, adapt to the individual and experiment with as many different ways as possible to achieve the objectives.

Use community-based support networks in each state.

Reproduced by permission of the Victorian Aquatic Industry Council from the Aquatics for All Abilities publication
www.vicswim.com (link to external website opens in new window.)