Is this normal for a gymnastics class...

[whyismysoullost]

That you can't watch your children practice ?

I rang up a few gymnastics companies and most of them do not allow you to watch your children during their sessions. Is this normal ? I want to see my money's worth to be honest- and if they are teaching DS well. How can I judge this if I can't watch his practice sessions.

Should I look elsewhere ? Or is this normal for gymnastics companies ?

There is no way I would send either of my kids (they dance rather than gymnastics) to classes where parents were allowed to watch. They both have an asd and would hate to have people watching them instead of feeling safe to make mistakes etc.

That is normal for all kind of clubs DD goes to since she is in primary school. Be it dance, gymnastics, singing, drama.

The only one I can watch is riding and that's only because it is too far away to drop her off and collect later.

We normally have "watching week" before Christmas and then there is a Summer performance. Plus fairs where they perform and competitions if they are good enough.

I know that DD would not concentrate and fiddle with me being in the room, we are both better off apart. The couple of opportunities we have to see her is enough to know if it works or not.

Also, I can do things in the meantime or sit in a warm cafe instead of standing in a cold and smelly room.

Witch I agree with everything you said- but ...anyway, unless you're trained in gym, how would you know how well he's being taught

The other coach would teach my son a move, if he didn't get it right the first time, he would just leave him and say "yay, well done". Whereas the main coach would be much more dedicated and will have DS practice the move over and over whilst redirecting his attention.

Comefromaway how are our DC'a doing with gymnastics.

Maybe watching is not such a great idea. Numerous occasions, DS will be pulling funny faces at me and I will mouth to him to pay attention to the teacher. However, he does follow through and pay attention to the coach as he knows I'm watching. I'm worried that if I don't watch him, he would just lose focus (he always does this !).

I guess I have to let him go and trust the adults that they know what they are doing. I can't always be there with him forever- despite his needs.

Comefromaway how are our DC'a doing with gymnastics.

Sorry what are you asking? Can you re-phase it for me please?

Sorry Come I thought your DC's were doing gymnastics not dance. I wanted to find out how they were doing.

It's very similar in many ways in terms of training etc.

Dd is now studying it at college and wants to turn professional. She's also starting to teach little ones.

Ds was a late starter. tried it disastrously when he was young but didn't cope with group classes. Then he started to perform in musical theatre so started dance classes to help with that but it's not his thing. He's now given up formal classes and is moving in the direction of music.

Both of them absolutely hate me watching.

My DDs club had an area well away from the action that parents could wait in. If the club's facility doesn't allow for this I can understand why they don't want parent in.

OP have you talked to the club and explained your son's condition? Remember that the coaches are either volunteers or being paid pittance, such is the state of sport in our country.

Would it be possible for you to qualify as a level one coach and volunteer in the club to support your son?

Normal.

Having said that, DD has been at at club where there was a huge viewing area. I hated it. Having to listen to other mums making comments like..Oh, did you see, she just missed that skill..shame (sarcastically) or Yes, I ca see why she didn't do so well at grades etc etc.

Her club now, I drop off and go. That's it. Brilliant.

You have to trust the coaches. If you don't, then move clubs.

It’s also a safeguarding issue having random adults standing round watching who haven’t had any dbs checks

Don't be so ridiculous, honestly how do some people ever leave the house.

Yes, and for ballet too. We get to watch an end of term show and that's all.

DD's advice (she is a competitive gymnast and BG qualified judge and coach) is to find a club with a coach who focuses on disability gymnastics. That way you have a coach who knows how to work with and get the best from all gymnasts with varying levels of ability.

At the club she works at parents of the most disabled stay.

I wouldn't be keen on this at all

Yes Dot this was one of the clubs that focuses on disability gymnastics. It's a mainstream class but they take on very small groups and have a high adult to child's ratio.

Yes, I am very upfront about DS needs but, this is has been proven time and time again, that their level of expectations drops and therefore DS is not pushed. This is what happened with swimming. We went to various of swimming lessons through our local leisure centres. They loved DS but did not feel confident in teaching him or their expectations were low. Hence, we have to travel an hour away, each week, to a swimming company whose ethos is to teach all children to swim regarding ability. DE has flourished.

I just hate that we cannot access good teaching, for children with special needs, through our local community. The good teachers are hard to find, if they are found, everyone knows how good they are and are quickly booked up. I'm having to travel to the wealthy parts of areas to access good quality teaching for DS.

It is a tricky issue. I am a sports coach in my free time (voluntary, not paid work) and parents watching can either be brilliant or dreadful. I coach the youngest age group mainly, so preschoolers and I actively encourage parents to stay and interact with their children in my sessions. But for the older children, whilst parents are still free to watch, we ask them to stay on the sidelines and not interfere. That doesn't always happen though and it can make coaching very difficult if you even have just one parent who keeps shouting instructions to their child, or one child who runs to Mum or Dad at the slightest problem. And as has already been mentioned, behaviour and concentration do deteriorate for a lot of children if the parents are present.
I coach an outdoor sport in a big space so it is comparatively easy to handle difficult parents by putting physical distance between us and them. I would imagine that in an indoor setting with limited space it would be a lot harder. When my DD danced at our local dance school parents only watched on specific parents watching days, usually at the end of term. Putting chairs out in the studio for parents significantly reduced the space available, and especially when the students were teens doing big jumps etc there were one or two close calls as with parents in the room wasn't really big enough for them. I think it would have really impacted on the quality of the teaching if the parents had been in every week. If the facilities are such that parents can watch without interfering at aĺl with how the class is run then that is one thing, but often that simply isn't the case.
I appreciate that your situation is more difficult OP, and I hope that you find a group that can meet your son's needs soon, but I just wanted to reassure you that coaches who don't want parents watching are not necessarily up to no good. There are often sound reasons for the decision.

I also meant to say that the coaches who struggle with meeting your DS's needs may really want to, but not feel that they can do so safely and correctly. It is something we have had some issues with in our club in fact. We aim to be fully inclusive but the coaching training we have had does not specifically cover children with additional needs. We have several children with ASD and/or ADHD in the club and it is sometimes hard managing their needs alongside the rest of the group. By good fortune 2 of our coaches have professional expertise in this area but that is just luck - a lot of community groups won't have anyone. It is something we have raised with our governing body in fact. We are encouraged to be inclusive but not really given the skills in the standard training.
There is a lot invested in the physical disability side of things in our sport with specialist training available for those who want to coach para sports and a very good infrastructure for that. But lots of children similar to your DS want to participate alongside everyone else in mainstream clubs and teams, and standard community level coaches are not always well equiped to do that. I know it isn't just my sport that has this problem as friends from several other sports have said they also sometimes struggle. Hopefully it will improve in the future. I realise that it doesn't make your situation any easier, but please don't think that the coaches who have not been successful in their approach with your son have always been that way by choice. There is a definite gap in provision between the standard training and para sport or specific learning disability sports. Lots of children fall in between and are not adequately provided for. I am glad I read your post actually as I have a meeting coming up where I can raise this again within my area. Hopefully if lots of us keep chipping away we can make a difference. Thank you for reminding us of this unmet need.