[blindkid] swimming lessons

[Heather]

Be aware and make the swim instructor aware that reluctance to put her head 
in the water might be due in part to her ears filling with water and thereby 
having her hearing and therefore her sense of dirrection severely limited 
until she learns techniques for trailing a lane marker or the wall.  Also if 
you will be inside, echoey pool rooms are horribly disorienting and loud, so 
she might need smaller group lessons or one to one lessons if this becomes a 
problem for her.  Try to embrace strokes like the doggy paddle or breast 
stroke where her hands are always in front of her, so that she doesn't run 
into the wall or a lane marker.  It won't hurt her badly, but if she is just 
learning in deep water and bumps into something and loses her momentum and 
starts to sink and panicks it could startle her very badly.  I have seen 
that in a lot of blind children, who are progressing like pros, then 
something like that happens and they back slide for a week or two's worth of 
progress.  If she will be using some sort of bubble or floaties, be aware of 
how they limit her ability to explore with her arms, as feeling constrained 
might be problematic.  Most people naturally learn how not to get water up 
their nose or in their eyes where it hurts like hell and can over time do 
damage, but not being able to see a friend coming up to dunk you in play, or 
not seeing a splash coming can foil this instinctual reaction, and therefore 
it is important to watch her reactions and see if something like this is 
happening before her reaction manifests as fear or anger.  I hope that 
helps.  I'm sure you will both have a lot of fun.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kathy B" <burgawicki at yahoo.com>
To: <BVI-Parents at yahoogroups.com>; <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, May 31, 2010 1:58 PM
Subject: [blindkid] swimming lessons


> Hi All-
>
> My daughter Addison is four and is starting swimming lessons tomorrow. 
> She's totally blind.  Do any of you have any advice or suggestions that 
> would help with her or the instructor?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Kathy
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> blindkid mailing list
> blindkid at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> blindkid:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/craney07%40rochester.rr.com