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Submitted by PatientsEngage on 13 April 2019
Profile pic of Sagar Shanbag, a young man with green polo tshirt with a profile brick wall in the background

Sagar Shanbhag, a professional swimming coach, who has started a swimming program for children with special needs, says that while any exercise is good, swimming is particularly beneficial for development of their attention, focus, learning, sensory processing and social skills.

Could you tell us little bit about yourself and how you started teaching swimming to special needs children?

I went to the US to pursue a graduate degree. After I finished, I got a job near Washington, D.C. One day, while walking to work I saw a notice requesting volunteers for a local Adaptive Aquatics program. I was intrigued. I have a long history of swimming since childhood, both for competition and pleasure, so the idea of helping others, particularly children with special needs, to enjoy swimming and be water-safe, sounded very interesting. I started as a volunteer, and eventually taught many lessons during each week. While my work-life was very hectic and stressful, the adapted swim lessons were my stress-relievers and a great source of enjoyment. I was involved in the 3 US adaptive aquatics program for about 2 years.

When I returned to India, I wanted to continue my work with children with special needs, but nothing like the US programs existed in Mumbai. So, I began setting up similar Adapted Aquatics initiatives here. It was a new concept and required a lot of hard work and convincing. But I am proud to say that in less than a year since mid-2018, it has shaped up wonderfully and has been receiving plenty of positive feedback.

As a professional swimming coach, what has been your experience teaching kids with developmental and learning disabilities, particularly those on the autism spectrum disorder (ASD)?

In an adaptive swim program, you can encounter children with a wide array of special needs, including physical, emotional and intellectual disabilities. There were a large number of children, teens and adults on the autism spectrum disorder in our US swim program. The prevalence of ASD is more common than we think. Since I have been teaching them for the last several years, I have realised that with the right support and activities they have immense potential to improve their behaviours. Secondly, they love the water. It is surprising at times to see how quickly these kids learn new swimming skills.

Is swimming safe for children with autism considering they are prone to severe anxiety and mood swings? How do the children benefit from swimming?

This is a good question, and I imagine lots of people would initially have concerns. However, with an effective rapport with the experienced instructors and trained staff, swimming is an excellent activity for them, both in general and also to help with their anxiety, mood issues and also develop a strong identity in the pool. It actually can help them calm down in general, which is an added benefit.

Its important to note that first and foremost, children with autism have a much higher chance of accidental death by drowning than an average child of the same age; perhaps as high as 10-fold increase. So, our first goal is to achieve water-safety for them.

After that, we move to teaching the mechanics of swimming. We often see the children are very happy and excited to be in the water, and we know the exercise helps them sleep and eat better and have more control over their emotions and behaviour due to the exertion. Children with ASD are extremely sensitive to their environment, especially noise, light, or temperature. Consequently, they often love to be under water, as this is a calm, quiet, weightless environment in which they can play.

With time and patience, you will see improvement in their attention, focus, sensory processing, learning and social skills.

How do you help them overcome fear of water?

Children with ASD often are not afraid of the water, and that’s the cause for many of the accidental drownings. However, for those that do have fear or anxieties, it just takes patience and creativity and a slow approach to the water, and then they rapidly see what a wonderful environment it is, particularly for them. For example, we might play with swim toys or diving rings in a very shallow area until they feel more comfortable. Or singing songs or counting games during their anxious first few minutes can help distract them, and then they realize they really like the sensations the water gives. A good bond and communication between the instructor and the kid is critical aspect in moving forward.

Related Read: Surfing The Seas Fearlessly

How different is your communication with children with autism compared to the rest? Does it have to be more specialized and individual?

Creative communication and patience is the absolute key to working with the special population. Many children with ASD are non-verbal, but understand everything told to them. Children with ASD can also appear as though they’re unaware of those around them, but in fact they are paying a great deal of attention. Laminated pictures are another useful tool to demonstrate a new skill or technique.

What changes have you seen in children after they learn swimming?

We notice many positive changes, and the parents tell us many more! When they begin the lesson, they may demonstrate a great deal of anxiety, but after a time, you see the children generally happy, smiling, and laughing. They can often control their emotions or behaviour more effectively after the swim lesson. Their parents often tell us how eagerly they wait for the swimming class, and how much better they sleep, eat and interact with others after swimming. While any exercise is good for them, swimming is particularly beneficial for the sensory aspects. Overtime, with small improvements and successes, the kids start developing a personality where they start looking at themselves as athletes.

Did you have any daunting moments while teaching swimming to special needs children?

Yes, but we work hard to minimize these. Children with ASD often do not perceive the danger of water, so you might have a child who wanders to the deep side or attempts to swim further than he can. But a trained and alert staff catches these situations before any real danger is imminent. We’ve never had any issues in the programs with which I’ve been involved.

What has been your most fulfilling occasion?

I’ve had the pleasure and honour of working with several severely disabled children. When they go from inconsolable crying for their parent at the first lesson, and then laughing and happily (and safely!) playing in the water, and swimming on their own a few lessons later… well, that is just the best feeling in the world.

I’m also quite proud of the programs I’ve begun here in Mumbai, especially the open water swim in Malvan. It was a huge project to undertake, but the children that participated had the greatest sense of accomplishment, and their parents were amazed at their successes. Every child was a winner. There is no price you can put on such profound and heart-warming positive experiences.

Would you like to share any tips that could be useful while teaching children on the autism spectrum disorder?

As I’ve already mentioned, the most important aspect to teaching children with ASD is patience and creativity. What works well with one child will not necessarily work on the next, even though they may seem to have similar deficits and behaviours. So, the instructor needs to remind oneself constantly to be patient, and try different approaches if something isn’t working. Try demonstrating swim skills and see if they will copy you. Try moving their arms and legs for effective swimming technique and see if they’ll keep going after you let go. Try several different strokes and see if they prefer one over the others. Laminate photos or show online videos of swimmers doing various skills (blowing bubbles, putting your face in the water, back float, etc) and see if your student responds better to the picture. Involvement of parents is one of the key aspects. There are a ton of skills of swimming that parents can integrate with their kids in day to day life, which will ease the entire learning process of new skills in the pool.

Lastly, how did you prepare yourself to understand the psychology of special needs children?

There’s a revealing phrase about autism – “If you’ve met one autistic child, you’ve met one autistic child.” As in, they have very unique personalities and attributes. What works particularly well with one may be an absolute failure with another, even though they may seem very similar in level and personality. As is true for all things, experience is the best teacher of all. So, from every child with special needs, I have learned a great deal. I am working hard to pass that knowledge on to my staff and instructors. Their experiences help me too. And patience, patience, patience – I can’t stress that enough.

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