What clubs can disabled kids join?

[Letsgototheclub]

Been googling for hours and nothing's clicking.

Dd, almost five, really wants a "thing". All her friends at school have a "thing" - Dance, swimming, ect.

She is partially sighted, struggles with movement and has speech difficulties.
We've tried swimming lessons but hit a wall after Duckling badge one, physically it's not possible to progress and she was upset at being left behind.
The dance classes in the area look very official, lots of competitions, pictures of 3 year olds in perfect positions, lots of quotes about precision and perfection.
Football clubs don't start until age six.
Horse riding is too far to travel.

She doesn't care what she does, she just wants to feel like her friends.
I don't care what she does if it's after-school or on a weekend. Please help us!

Does your area have an active parent carer forum for parents of disabled children? That might be a good place to ask?

Special Olympics have a young athletes sections (2-7), see if there is anything suitable near you. Also, check if there are any groups the school knows about.

https://www.specialolympics.org/get-involved/athlete?locale=en

There should also be some inclusive drama groups around.

Hey. My child is SEN, mobility issues plus learning difficulties. She really enjoys rainbows as other people have mentioned, but most recently she has been really enjoying sport ability sessions. Near me they run for three hours on a Saturday morning and they do a whole host of sports. My child has recently got into golf, skiing and rugby (three things I had no idea that they’d enjoy! I had tried the usual dancing, gymnastics etc but found the clubs to be quite blocking after a certain level)

https://www.sportability.org.uk/

Brownies? Drama?

What about horse riding? I think there's a charity called the RDA.

rda.org.uk/about-us/

Have you got level water, they do swimming 1-1. My ds did it, then mainstream, then para swimming,

We also found a choir, again they have 1-1 support, now no longer necessary.

and riding but I understand that’s too far.

we tried football, wasn’t for us but they did have a visually impaired club. There are a lot around.

Have a look at local drama groups. If you have a theatre in your town see if they have anything. My so runs one near us and they work incredibly hard at being inclusive.

Also, enquire at Mencap near you, around here they organise some activities for school age children.

It's hard without knowing the area.

What about drama classes?

I worked with a VI student and she loved dancing and yoga. I still go and watch her shows now! She also was in Rainbows and when she aged out they asked her if she would like to stay ‘to help out with the little ones’ and omg she was the proudest person I’d ever seen when she told me 🥰
Her interests were still quite ‘young’ and whoever ran the rainbows group was so in tune to what this young lady needed.
I know she also likes drama and has loved music since starting at senior school.
Also a big fan of arts and crafts, painting and pottery type stuff. Depending on the level of sight lots of these things can be adapted.
Good luck 🤞🏾

Is there an inclusive drama club near you? Our local one is excellent!

Just found a lovely theatre company especially catering to different needs. Only runs on a Wednesday 9-3 😩 such a shame.

I will continue the search tomorrow, thank you everyone.

Judo!

great martial art and absolutely possible with sight issues (partially-sighted instructor at our club represented GB at Paralympics)

Rainbows starts from age 4 and she can definitely be a rainbow. It’s very inclusive and the girls absolutely love it

Is there a Phab club near you? They do loads of different activities. She may be a little young yet, but if so they might know of other things in the area.

How about music? Either a group (singing, drumming) or 1-2-1 lessons that could lead to a group later. Ask your county music service for a recommendation.

But definitely rainbows are worth a go.

Perform drama classes are good at integrating all abilities and giving everyone a part.

Extraordinary Bodies Is their website.

This is the video of the show.
Extraordinary Bodies ‘Weighting’ - Full Show, Stoke 2015 on Vimeo

Billy, one of the directors, was a trapeze artist. After one show, he decided to try and persuade dd to try trapeze too by listing all the injuries he'd had. I did point out that wasn't exactly encouraging her mum to let her! But both the directors were lovely and really passionate about the circus being accessible for every person.

I second Guiding or Scouting, either could be good depending on how clued up the local leaders are on disability. I know she's not old enough to be a Beaver yet but it's worth getting her name on the waiting list.
Also, not a quick fix, but have a look for disabled sporting events in your area/ nearest city. The sort of multisport events that have the opportunity to try out everything from boccia to wheelchair basketball to adaptive table tennis to gymnastics, track and field. She'll be able to meet other disabled people including older role models, and maybe find something she particularly enjoys with a local club.

Yes I was going to say disability swimming. I think group sessions are awful for kids with disabilities; they're cramped, noisy and rushed. If you don't have level water you could also see if your local big swimming club has a disability section as well.

Horse riding - find your local RDA stables

Trampolining

Dance - does she enjoy it? Does it matter if she's good at it if she has fun?

Music lessons

Flamingo Chicks is supposed to be brilliant for dance, if that’s her sort
of thing:
https://flamingochicks.org/

https://goalballuk.com/ might be an option as well?

I just found details of a martial arts club that caters for SEND on our council’s local offer page. I was looking for my teenage son but they should have details of things to suit younger children if that helps.

With swimming, is there somewhere that does smaller groups? DS didn’t do so well with larger classes but came along well in a small group with a 1:2 ratio. He’s dyspraxic so needed the teacher in the pool.

Depends on your area

I'm Kent and we have local gymnastics for sen /disabled

kentgymnastics.org/get-involved/disciplines/special-needs-gymnastics/