Gym Problem?

Question

There is a girl in my gym class she has down syndrome totally great person. When we go outside thers is a giant hill and she is terrified to walk down it her self saying she knows she will get hurt. She is so afraid she will start crying. I help her down the hill she grabs on tome for life. The gym teachers do not want me doing this. She also has balance problems should i help my friend or listen to the teacher

Answer 1

In the long run, as bad it makes you feel you need to let her fall- I give this very odd answer from experience. I was in school in the 1960s and missed Rain Man curse so the best sides of our autism showed threw and the word "autism" was not invented yet thankfully.

As for gym class I could not for the life of me run fast do Jumping jacks or skip or play ball BUT I TRIED and Tried and earned the name "flash" for being so slow. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger and being laughed at and "highly regarded" built a lot of character. It channeled a lot of my energy to the things I could do like long distance cycling.

Hindsight tells us I had a hip defect where my hips were mis aligned and thus the corrordination issues. Then the Autism thoughts were not figured out either. Now all of that is history and I can run with special shoes, play ball as I have figured out my autism thoughts (never in a book before) . Autism and its so called  professionals were unaware as they still are today autisitc people don't feel internal pain so my hips should have hurt but they never did until later life then the x rays showed the "obvious".

As hard as it is please let her "fail" stand by to pick her up . Getting down and finding your way up is the strongest lession and most hope you can ever give her. Give her the chance and she will find a way to do her best.

Answer 2

It will not be your fault if she gets hurt, it will be the SCHOOLS fault for IGNORING her and not HELPING her.

This is not YOUR job, it is THEIRS.

Seems they would be scared to be sued by the parents  since  they ignore her and allow her to be hurt.

Idiots.

YOu need to let the parents know about this, cause I bet you a million dollars that if she DOES get hurt, the school  will deny everything and say they had no idea of anything.

Answer 3

Maybe the two of you can get together in the afternoon or the weekend and practice going up and down hills... start with just a little hill, and work your way up.

Balance can be an issue for DS kids,  so they need to work harder to feel more comfortable going down hills.  Haven't you ever worried you were going to fal going up or downa  hill or even stairs?

Answer 4

That is horrible!!  I can't believe your gym teacher would stop you from helping out a classmate.  Talk to you parents and ask them to call the school on your behalf.  If that won't work, ask to speak to the principal or other trusted administrator with power within the school. Also, you could stop by the students special education classroom and alert the teacher.  This gym teacher is not provided equal, fair education for this child by leaving her "cold."  Students with Down's syndrome frequently have balance problems and she's probably fallen before.  

Thanks for being a caring advocate for this girl!

Answer 5

In theory, your teachers know more than you do about balance and ability. However, it sounds rather cruel to terrorize this kid.

My suggestion is that you do as your teacher tells you and then see what happens. If she stays at the top of the hill all day, then you  might be able to prove a point to your teachers. If she makes it down, then you will realize that they were right.

Sometimes when we think we are doing the right thing, it is actually increasing a person's dependence on other people. Since you are not going to be with her if she takes a trip to San Francisco and has to walk up and down hills, you may be doing more harm than good.

Answer 6

Listen to the teacher. They are trying to help this girl with facing fears and improving her balance. I think it is really sweet of you to want to help her but in the long run you may keep her from taking the next steps toward independence

Answer 7

Just gradually, walk up hills with her. Walk up a smaller hill for a couple days, and the gradually progress to bigger hills.

Hope I helped. Best of luck.