Swim teaching - To struggle to think of reasonable adjustments for ADHD?

[Gotabadfeelingaboutthis]

So Jenny (not real name) has ADHD and is a swimming teacher.
She presents in a very hyper state for work, is often late and arrives disheveled, disorganised and dysregulated. She also may not have the things she needs with her. In the pool, she is very heightened, which can present as either hyperactive and loud, or dysregulated, snappy, tearful etc. If the children in the pool are struggling to regulate, she becomes very frantic and cries. Jenny does have things going on in her personal life, but she leads a life which appears to lurch from one drama to another, and the people (family) around her exacerbate issues. To add balance, Jenny is also very thoughtful and kind, she does not have a good support network at home, and does want to do well at work.
Her workplace want to put in place reasonable adjustments to support her and enable her to do her job effectively but it is very difficult to think how her ADHD could be accommodated in a swimming pool setting, as things like a quiet room to work in, softer lighting, headphones on etc wouldn't work for a swimming teacher! In terms of her lateness, the way the business operates means she chooses which days she works already. It is so difficult balancing supporting her, with keeping the children in the pool safe and ensuring they are getting effective teaching. I would welcome any suggestions.

This wouldn't make me feel any better as a parent. Learning to swim isn't just about the physical actions of swimming , it's about how to react and stay alive should a child get into difficulty and if she'd frantic and crying at the first sing if difficulty in the water herself, have a little think about what the children she's teaching are learning from her.

I have adhd and autism myself,k feel bad for Jenny but having a good heart and good intentions isn't enough when it comes to this. I'm surprised parents haven't pulled their children out of the classes because I certainly would.

She needs to take se responsibility for her self and work on her own coping methods. There's only so much a workplace can do. She doesn't sound like she's at all suited to the job or any customer facing role.

Adhd can be managed very effectively, but it needs a lot of work. She needs to work on herself, discover what helps her cope and regulate herself and implement it- whether that's a lot of exercise, meditation etc.

I'm adhd. Yes we have difficulties but we have to find ways to manage it. I plan to arrive half hour early so when I'm late I'm not actually late. That extra time is spent regulating before work. Carry everything you need in one bag and leave it in the car so can't be forgotten. You just have to mask around kids, I work with kids and you just cannot be disregulated in front of them. Adults needs do not trust children's needs. This isn't the right job for her

Yes, same. I have an autistic five year old in swimming lessons who relies on her teacher being strong at co-regulation. I would suggest that Jenny perhaps teaches club or adult at the moment until things are more under control. Safety, including emotional safety of all swimmers can't be compromised.
What does Jenny think would help?

My ADHD daughter has swimming lessons and if she had Jenny as a teacher there would either be a fatal accident or the police called. Swimming teachers have to be calm and collected or the kids will spiral (and the SEN kids will do so doubly).

Put Jenny on a PIP and explain in excruciating detail how she must behave and what she must do. Implement and document religiously.

I think you can make all the adjustment you want - it doesn't sort the issue that Jenny cannot cope with the poolside. As a parent, I wouldn't be happy and go elsewhere. I don't think it's acceptable.

Are you having adult classes or other 1:1 lessons for children without SN? Could you support her with a backoffice role away from the pool?

What does Jenny want? She doesn't sound happy? does she not acknowledge herself, that the current role isn't maybe best suited for her?

Her (and your) number one priority is the children's safety. The swimming part is very much secondary.

Reasonable adjustments need to be reasonable. She can't expect to be allowed to get out of the pool and leave the kids. She can't compromise their safety by being dysregulated herself - no adjustment for this is reasonable.

If she cannot provide a save environment for the children she cannot do the job - you can't teach swimming from a quiet, darkened room. (Just as you can't be a firefighter if you're visually impaired, or be a binman if you need to use a wheelchair to get around). No adjustment is reasonable if it either endangers the children or means it changes the job requirements so significantly that she needs to be away from the poolside.

This is the not the right for job for Jenny to be in, for the kids sake.

Whoever is keeping her there needs questioning as THEY are putting children at risk. Her adhd does not supersede the needs of the children .

Jenny isn’t suited to the job. It’s harsh but having a teacher like that isn’t fair on the children, or their parents who have paid for the lessons! Jenny needs support to get a new job

She needs to be accommodated by doing a different job. She could presumably superintend changing rooms or help customers at the desk or something? If she can't stay calm and attentive, she will endanger the kids in the class.

I have worked with a lot of teachers who have ADHD and they have all been able to do their job very well without compromising the safety of the pupils. They are good with children and always on time to work. Jenny shouldn’t be a swimming teacher as she is completely unsuited to the job.

This woman gives other people with ADHD a bad name. Many of us have worked out our own workarounds eg bag packed the night before, leaving extra time to reach the venue, having clothes set out the night before and things left in defined places such as the car keys always being in a bowl in the hallway. We work on things we find difficult. I have systems set up at work to make up for my weaknesses in executive functioning so that people actually think I am very organised. Yes, we might feel bad or stressed at times but we carry on. I would fire her without hesitation before somebody drowns on her watch. If I was a parent there is no way that I would her teaching my small children..

Reasonable adjustments need to be reasonable. You can't demand a reasonable adjustment to become a bus driver if you're blind. Or even to be a professional pilot if you're too short sighted.

In the same way, I'm not sure there is a reasonable adjustment that will enable someone who becomes dysregulated and cries to be able to teach swimming to small children. Would she do better with older children/ adults who can already swim and are looking to improve their technique?

Is she on medication and does that help at all?

I think that you are being very kind to ask us what might help in this situation, and it sounds as though you have tried several reasonable adjustments already.

Part of my job is supporting children with SEND in a swimming pool, and it is so much easier if the staff are calm, reasonably quiet and give clear instructions. You know you've got it right when children are keen to get in the pool and don't want to leave!

The swimming pool is not the best place for someone to be if they are as you describe. It's bright, the sound and light bounces off the water and it could easily lead to sensory overwhelm without the added pressure of having to teach, and just think of the children who are new to swimming seeing all of this. I just cannot see how you could put anything more in place to help.

Wow.

As a parent, if I witnessed that in one of my children’s classes, I wouldn’t bother asking you to put my child in a different class, I would be looking for a new swim school.

As a (former) swimming teacher, I would have been (quite rightly) fired if I were routinely late, disorganized or unprepared for my classes.

I understand you want to help her. And that is lovely. But a reasonable adjustment for your employee cannot be something that puts your clients in danger. And if she can’t cope with unregulated children in the pool, she is putting them in danger. We all know how quickly something can wrong in water.

In your shoes, I’d be telling her all of this and ask her how you can help her without endangering your clients.

Some possible answers - can she get herself organised and to work in time by using alarms and reminders? That is not an unreasonable expectation! She could then consider coming in 5 or 10 mins early to get her shit together. Both mentally and the props she needs for her class. Being properly prepared will probably help her a huge amount in class. But being early would also give her the opportunity to dive into the pool and do a few laps to calm her down (it works for me).

Could she teach a babies and toddlers class? It is a lot less pressure for some people because you are essentially teaching adults to teach the babies. And adults, although a pain and potentially intimidating for younger instructors, are less likely to put themselves or their children in danger. Also, the parents are responsible for their babies’ mood and behaviour which would take the pressure off her.

I've actually found this thread really upsetting. A young relative of mine died by drowning.

At my local pool parents aren't allowed poolside during lessons, and the idea that children might be being supervised by someone who is getting frantic and crying while children are in the water is terrifying.

Nothing should come before the children's safety, and you say another teacher is always there but presumably Jenny's disregulation is taking some of that other teacher's attention? This can't carry on.

You sound like you’ve done your best but jenny can’t do this job.

It shouldnt really have gone on this long to have had her in tears or panicking when children are dysregulated, one or two incidents of that and it should have been nipped in the bud

Erm, yes, my previous post was more general about reducing the overwhelm, in order to do the job. But I think, on reflection, the other posters are right.

Not the job for her currently.

She also needs more support at home. However, she needs to find her own way.

The adhd coach suggestion is a good one.

I also think there's more going on here too. She needs more help than some accommodations, do it's not unkind to try to start that process.

This can’t be for real. I have a close relative who behaves very much like this in jobs (and keeps getting fired because of it) but she works in offices, not supervising children in a swimming pool. She suspects she is nd (no diagnosis yet), and she may well be, but I know for a fact she is also on drugs. I’ve seen her get high before heading off for work. Just because someone has ADHD doesn’t mean that any and all failings can be attributed to that and fixed with “reasonable adjustments”. People with adhd can also have mh problems, problems with addiction or just be incompetent. The person you’re describing is completely incompetent at her job. A job where she’s responsible for the safety of kids! Being kind and a nice person doesn’t balance that out.

Think you've been amazing and supportive. You're obviously very kind. However, your duty of care to the children must trump your kindness in this situation. It's simply untenable and I think everyone here is giving you permission to go for dismissal.

Agreed.

I have some reasonable adjustments in my current job, I'm very much in favour of reasonable adjustments as a thing. But my reasonable adjustments would not be feasible for very valid reasons if I had other types of jobs. And so I don't do those jobs.

As well as the obvious risk to the children from Jenny's behaviours, in deciding how to manage this, you also need to be aware of how health & safety law works. It works on the basis of strict liability, looks to the top of the chain and has personal criminal penalties (ie individuals can go to prison as well as the company itself being fined).
I presume you are Jenny's manager. Are you also the owner of the swim school or are there levels above you? If there are levels above you, given the obvious risk here, you shouldn't continue to support Jenny without the support of your manager (and they may wish to alert someone above them).

This. I have ADHD.