MJ swimming with the “board” at last year’s swim program  🙂

Starting Monday MJ will be able to receive 10 swimming and water safety lessons for FREE! The best part is that it is during the school day for two weeks.  It is actually a part of the curriculum for the special needs students in his elementary school.  The school bus will take the students to the swim classes during the day from about 9:30- 1:00 pm.  I have to tell you that 2 years ago we paid for private swim lessons for MJ.  He went several times a week for 3 months and it was a horrible experience.  He would scream at the top of his lungs and say “I can’t do it”! He would cry and yell off and on throughout the lesson.  The instructor claimed to be trained in teaching kids with autism how to swim but we saw NO evidence of that.  I believe she made MJ more scared of the water than he was before.  Last year, MJ was able to participate in the school swim program and it was awesome.  By the end of the two weeks he was swimming from one end of the pool to the other using a “board”(can’t remember the name of it).   I am so grateful for this because we had nothing even close while living in Georgia.  In fact I was turned away from the local park/pool because they didn’t have anyone that taught special needs kids how to swim.  My son loves being in the water and I know how important it is for our kids to learn about water safety.  I am determined to make sure he learns how to swim one way or the other!

Letter from the school regarding the swim program.