Teaching autistic how to swim?

Question

i'm offering private swimming lessons to a family friend's 7 year old boy, who is autistic. I helped teach him in public swimming lessons, and he didn't do well in a group. He can mostly swim underwater, and he'll jump off a diving board if someone catches him. I am a competitive swimmer for seven years and i've been an assistant to group lessons for three years.

Is there anyone out there with any tips or experience?

I will be teaching him, and his grandparents will be watching closely.

Anything i can use to keep him entertained? He's such a great kid, and hes always happy and sweet. :]

Answer 1

Be patient with him. Give literal, specific instructions. Praise him for progress he makes. If it's hard to keep his attention and concentration on what you're teaching him you might want to find out what his special interest is (something he obsesses about) and try to involve that somehow in your teaching. That should keep him entertained while he's also learning.

Ask his family if he has some sensory issues and try to provide suitable environment for him to learn in. For example if he's sensitive to noise try to use a pool where there's not much noise or go there at a time when it's not very noisy. He'll feel better and be able to concentrate better if he doesn't have to deal with sensory issues while he's learning.

His family should be able to tell you better about what works with him. Every autistic individual is different and has different needs.

Good luck! :)

Answer 2

just make sure you keep him busy no down time.  what i do when i teach a child with autism is we start out doing bobbers.  i go first then he goes and we do about 10 of them.  then i hold him under his arm pits and have him float on his tummy and then have him float on his back and we try to look for birds in the sky when we are floating on his back.  i hold him the entire time.  then have him push off the wall on his tummy and his back.  we call it blast off.  i count from 10 to 1 and then say blast off.  he has to put his face in the water.  then we will talk to the fish ( blow bubbles) then we listen to the fish put our ear and cheek in the water.  then i have him hold my hands out in frounof his body and i guide him in doing his swimming arms (arms used for front crawl)  then i do the same thing on his back and if he doesnt want to put his head all the way back in the water i have him rest it on my shoulder.  then we go to the deep end and i teach him how to tread water.  with his legs i tell him to ride his bike and move hands back and forth.  then i let him jump off the wall a couple times and he has to use his swimming arms to the wall.  then we will go back to the shallow end and do blast off again and this time he has to use his swimming arms and face in the water.  we do blast off a lot because im really trying to get him to do his swimming arms.  a big key is do a lot of interacting.  like when you do bobbers take turns or diving for a diving stick take turns.  they find that a lot of fun watching you do it too.  if you need anything else let me know