Earlier this week I wrote about Stone’s new swim lessons and how important they are to him, given the problems some kids with Autism have had with wandering and drowning.
Thursday was Stone’s first scheduled swim lesson, and I was admittedly nervous leading up to the lesson. I had arranged for him to have private 1:1 lesson with an instructor at our local YMCA because I knew he needed the extra attention. Stone has always loved the water and enjoyed two earlier forays we had with swim lessons (with us in the pool with him) but I wasn’t sure how he would respond to having a stranger work with him in the water.
Well I’m happy to report that the lesson went AMAZINGLY well and Stone had an absolute BLAST. The instructor was great with Stone – he was able to connect with him right away and the two of them had so much fun in the water. Chris (the instructor) was patient with Stone but also helped dunk Stone under water a couple of times (which was good). Although he swallowed his share of water, Stone was quickly smiling and laughing again and the lesson went on without any melt down or interruption. As a matter of fact, Stone had so much fun he was upset when it was over and he had to leave the pool.
Stone did very well in the water. It’ll take him a little longer than Ty to be a full swimmer but I’m 100% confident he will get there without a problem.
