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!

Horse riding, cricket

There are a range of approaches to music groups aimed at younger children, I suspect some would suit her really well and others might be tricky. Similarly if approaching instrumental teachers don't be put off if one is uncertain or unwilling, it will depend on their background and training and personal strengths how confident they are in working with younger children and those with additional challenges. You may just have to ask around to find the rigiht person.

I agree that a children's choir could be a super option if you're lucky enough to have a good one in range.

If instruments appeal, you might like to look on the British Suzuki Music website to see if there are any Suzuki trained teachers near you. Our fundamental teaching philosophy is "Every child can" and our training focuses on how to break down skills into small achievable steps. A lot of us are interested in working with children with disabilities. (In the unlikely event you're in Oxfordshire do drop me a line!)

Ideally search on Facebook for your local groups - search '(name of your town) parent carer support group or similar and that's a great place to start. We have multiple support groups for specific disabilities and then broader ones for parent carers and additional learning needs.

Extra curriculars and inclusive groups are constantly being shared on them, you'll find just where is local and best to go for you and your daughter.

I hope you find something that fits you both!

DS is VI and at that age did swimming, gymnastics and music. We found that team sports (and especially ball sports) were too difficult to access (and the gulf between him and sighted peers got bigger as they all got older, to the extent that in secondary school he now does trampolining or fitness instead of tag rugby or hockey). So we focused on individual activities, where the teacher could demonstrate things up close and things could happen at their own pace. DS did swimming lessons through Level Water, and is now in a small group SEND lesson at the local pool, which is going really well.

British Blind Sport often do taster days for things like VI tennis, goalball and guide running, so worth looking out for one of those near you.

Music is a good one, especially singing (especially if you can persuade the choir leader to produce large print versions of the words). DS did Suzuki violin for a bit, and although the learning by ear was very accessible, he really struggled with the technical.challenges involved in keeping his bow straight and getting the posture right. He did much better with singing and piano, although we had to struggle to find the right teachers.

DS was lucky enough to go to a primary school that had lots of after-school activities and over the years he had a go at most of them, including coding, Spanish, cookery and even street dance! The people who ran the clubs were generally understanding of his needs and happy to include him, especially as we were very upfront about how best to support (and as he got older, he became very good about advocating for himself, e.g. asking to sit at the front when something was being demonstrated).

How on earth can that possibly work unless it is for children who don’t attend school?

Do you think she might like cricket? There are various categories from table cricket for people with major disability or Super 1's which is funded by the Lord Taverner's and free for disabled children. Plus as the DC gets older they often offer a free cricket summer camp for 3-4 days. Girls are particularly welcomed. They start on soft balls and plastic bats. As they get better they have cricket tournaments where all DC who participate are given a nice medal on a ribbon around their necks. They get the chance to mix with other disabled DC too. Both physical and learning disabilities catered for. It's outdoors in summer and indoors in the winter and there is also a county structure for DC who are very good.

You'd need to ask your local community Facebook group or similar but I can confirm dance schools exist which are just for fun not exams etc. Maybe try looking for street dance or similar instead of ballet/tap which tend to be more formal. My daughter's attended one for ten years and never done exams, it's just for fun and they do lots of performances but very informal.

chipsplay.org/

if you or other MNetters live in or near North London then look up CHICKEN SHED - a theatre group from age 5

🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂

Have a look around again at the dance schools and maybe make some enquiries. I'm not in the UK but i imagine the dance schools would be similar... they will often have 2 streams- one for performance/competition and the other just 'recreational'. So they go to their classes and at the end of the year they get a costume and perform at the concert. The kids are all levels of dance ability.
If you're really lucky, you might find a dance school who specifically caters to children with disabilities.

For music, have a look at the Amber Trust. They work exclusively with blind and VI children, and can also offer funding for lessons; ambertrust.org

I ran the special Olympics class in our town in the U.S. for disabled children. Later expanded to basketball and swimming. I had the Redbulls soccer team come in and they very kindly provided a fantastic soccer class, no game, to build skills for the 5-8 year olds and later added games for the older SEN children.

It was all volunteer based and I raided my ex husbands bank account to cover donations to the college swim team, the basketball volunteers came from the high school kids looking for something to add on their college application.

If you are by a university or 6th form college ask them for students to volunteer. The special Olympics team are all parents of disabled children and they showed me the ropes to get it set up. I do recommend getting the council involved and some local charities so there is some funding. One day you will need to hand it over. Best build those relationships upfront. I handed over to the director at city hall responsible for recreation sports.

For your daughter’s age the general skills class they have is excellent. It’s easy to teach it too. These are links to New Jersey. It’s a global organization. If you don’t have a chapter in your area, start one.

https://www.sonj.org/sports/young-athletes/

https://www.sonj.org/sports/coaches/coach-resources/games-and-activities/

My son used to go to riding for the disabled . School organized it , they had a few kids they would take .
There would also be fete days to raise money which meant I got to meet other parents with children who went .
Supported by Princess Anne .
Look up to see if you have any stables near you or see if school is involved .