Anxiety about school swimming lessons - all advice welcome

Swimming for me means peace and tranquility.

BUT ... learning to swim in a small indoor pool where the noise levels are high and echoing, and there are chemical smells and cold, slippery floors can be a horrible experience for any child not just ND one (I remember all too well).

I was lucky. Most of my swimming as a child was outdoors where noise dissipates and there is hardly a smell of chemicals.

I do hope you can find and afford 121 lessons as not only is the ability to swim an important life skill, once mastered it is a great physical activity. These days I can enjoy outdoor sea and lake swimming as part of a group but I am on my own at the same time. In many ways swimming is an ideal activity, doing front crawl you aren't expected to chat, nor maintain eye contact.

Good luck to your son.

My daughter was not making any progress with learning to swim at school, so on holiday I made some efforts to teach her myself, in the hotel swimming pool. The breakthrough came when I noticed that she was trying to swim in too shallow water. When she pushed herself forward off her feet she would immediately sink her head under the water. I took her out to where the water was up to her armpits and when she pushed off her head stayed above water. By the end of the holiday she could swim a width of the pool unaided.

Glad you overcame your swimming difficulties. Your reply gives me hope for my son. We will definitely try to take him when it's quiet. We have talked with the school and they are helping to take some of the pressure off him by saying he can opt out if he wishes. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Have you spoken to the school about it?  Learning to swim is important and I'm sure there are way to do that without stressing your lad out..

No one could teach me as a child.  I had some of the same problems.  I don't like my head under water, I'd get panicked if other people were splashing and boisterous around me or there were too many bodies in the pool and I could not tolerate anyone touching me in the water to support me to swim.

I did learn in my early 20s.  I went with a friend when it was really quiet.  I asked my friend to swim while I studied his movements very carefully.  I then copied, sticking within my depth for a good while, but I did it.  I lived in France at the time where the pool was outdoors all summer.  I used to go swimming alone when it was raining after that.  There would only be me and the attendant.   Swimming in the rain turned out to be a rare sensory joy, actually.

Thanks again for the input. It's very helpful. His school have said he can choose to observe the lessons and get involved if he wants, no pressure, which has eased some of his worries but not much. Will look into 121 lessons at a later date I think. I really didn't appreciate the sensory demands swimming lessons create at first but feel much better informed now.

You could make use of bath-time to gradually desensitise the problem with getting the face and head under the water. In a familiar and unstressful setting, it might be easier to accomplish. I had huge problems with co-ordination in playing ball games and even now cannot reliably catch balls, but once I learned to swim, I found that the co-ordination needed for swimming strokes was quite easy. I got my 'survival' and 'life saving' badges and swam a mile at 11 years of age. Swimming remains the only physical activity that I am any good at. You might find that swimming goggles and maybe a nose clip might be helpful. Being able to see clearly underwater is a useful incentive to put your face in the water.

I found swimming lessons absolute torture and still can't swim.

They created a huge fear of water.

One of the reasons was acute myopia but the sensory overload is also huge.

Thank you both for responding. Both answers helpful. Will look into private lessons I think.

Hi, I can relate with how your son is feeling. I found swimming lessons very stressful, walking on a cold wet floor is where the stress would start. The thought of putting my head under water was another trigger, it’s interesting you mention dyspraxia, trying to swim involved coordination of all four limbs, it was really hard to manage it. The noise, heat and smell was also stressful. I started going swimming in the evenings as it was a lot quieter and not so regimented, early mornings are even more quieter. Personally I wouldn’t push your son, especially if he is struggling to cope in school, maybe take him on a one to one basis. My local leisure centre does SEN swimming lessons for autistic children, it could be a better way for him to learn or just become confident in the water.

I think allowing him to miss lessons with a view to you teaching him over time is a good solution, but there are lots of options. 

I have found different approaches have helped my kids. One needed to go to the pool for the first session but not take part, just familiarise themself with the process, the routine, took a sketch pad for something comforting to do, then was able to take part in every second session. 

The other found the pool, and the other groups just too loud. They couldn't hear the coach and it was really stressful so we have found local lessons in a quieter pool on a quieter day but there's a waiting list. So, while we do that, I will be teaching them myself. 

The travel aspect was stressful for them too with School sessions. So there may be ways to accommodate that.

I think the bottom line is yes you are 100% right swimming is an important life skill but there are so many ways how they learn can they can find ones that fit.

Wishing you both all the best!