Not following instructions in swimming lessons

[KOKOagainandagain]

This term DS2 has swimming lessons now that he is in class 3. He was really looking forward to them before they started but is now refusing to talk about them. Any type of sports lesson is a problem for the school as he seems to find the desire to do his own thing overwhelming. In football they just leave him to dance and play games on the side-lines but obviously can't do this in the pool. I don't know whether the CT has told the instructor about DS2's ASD (new diagnosis) and from what I can gather from him, he thought there was going to be free play and he is being told off a lot.

Over the past 3 weeks a pattern has emerged that he gets upset on a Wednesday after school and again on a Thursday morning before school. Swimming is the last lesson on a Wednesday afternoon.

How can I help him? If this was a confidence or practical skill issue, we could visit the pool in-between lessons at school. Has anyone else had a similar problem?

[KOKOagainandagain]

Swimming instructors are shouty and strict as a matter of course.

Do you mean that the 1:1 goes into the pool with the class or he has separate lessons? DS2's school only do swimming for one term and his 1:1 was only for 10 hours and has not been sorted out yet - largely because they do not exist! The school had reduced TA time to save money and now have no staff available.

Given that no support can be put in place before the end of the course, should I just pull him out? He was initially getting angry with his xbox but is very good at calming himself down - he retreated to a darkened room and then spent several hours playing minecraft on my computer. But is it worth it and is it likely to be counter-productive and increase anxiety (if not scar him for life)?

[Redoubtable]

Oh yess. School swimming was a nightmare for a long time.
I thought I was doing a good thing by bringing DS for private lessons; but he 'failed' there too.
I realised it was his auditory hypersensitivity that was the biggest issue. He was overwhelmed by the noise of other children, the echoing, the lights, splashing in his face and was virtually impossible for him to pick out the teacher's voice with all that.

In DS's case, he has had one-to-one swim lessons for 12 months, so that he now has the skill of swimming, and when he goes to school lessons, he doesnt have to learn and can cope with all of the other demands. That has eliminated all the problems for him.

[Redoubtable]

Cross posted I think OP.

If he's not learning and is getting stressed, what is the benefit of him continuing...other than to be in class with the others?

[KOKOagainandagain]

Actually, the school are only offering one term to comply with NC requirements. Why the hell should I withdraw him from part of the curriculum because he is expected to cope with no support?

If I withdraw him it is not disability discrimination because they are technically not excluding him. But if they don't provide support to enable inclusion/access then legally they are discriminating.