Compulsory swimming lessons

[Mumof2amazingasdkiddos]

My DD10 is in a social and communication unit attached to a mainstream school and is diagnosed ASD. I've just been informed that this year includes compulsory swimming lessons as part of PE. I fully agree swimming is a necessary life skill and I want her to have the lessons.

However she is the only girl in her class along with 7 boys (all great friends and not been an issue for the past 2 years) and she is going through puberty. Her breasts are starting to grow and she has some pubic hair. DD is very private with her body and doesn't allow me to be in her room when she's changing and only reluctantly allows me in the bathroom to wash her hair where she sits in the bath with her hands covering her boobs.

How do I navigate this? What swimwear is easy to get on/off, she does struggle a little still with dressing and sometimes needs a hand but only once her underwear is on which obviously will not be the case at swimming. Also related she struggles to get dressed after her bath like most DC do when they insist on drying themselves and will sometimes get her bra/knickers twisted and needs help adjusting them.
What questions do I need to ask the school in regards to how they intend to get the children changed? Obviously we are working on her independence and have been for years but there are still some things she struggles with and these won't be sorted before the lessons.
Do I agree to the lessons full stop or do I attend with her?

I've literally only just been informed of this so I admit I'm spiralling slightly, can anyone help just talk this through with me please?

Ah DS is awake and ready to cause havoc! I'll be back later to read the other posts but a quick thank you for taking the time x

Sounds like you've got everything sorted and you've had some amazing advice. One thing to add is that I pack a small hand towel (or the even smaller gym towel if we can find it) for my kids when they do school swimming lessons just to stand on when they're changing. Changing room floors can be grim and that way hopefully they have dry feet by the time the wrestle their shoes/socks back on (depending on the set up of where shoes go back on of course!)

Good luck with it all!

Get the school to speak to the centre op if it was me I'd let her wear what she needed as an reasonable adjustment. We have had children visit the centre prior to lessons so they know what to expect and have accessible changing rooms available to them so they arent in the group change.

I asked because I do not know any ND children and since most talc manufactures now use cornflour rather than talc itself, it is now safe to use and might help. I hope you are able to solve your problem and that your child enjoys learning to swim

Something like this is good

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/sports/swimming/girls-swimming-costume?pdt-highlight=348081&mc=8852070&utm_term=8852070-5063927%2C_n-generic-pros_ts-pro_spd-msp_spu-msp_sp-msp_pt-pb_l-en_BAU&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=gb_t-intbra_ct-shopp_n-generic-pros_ts-pro_f-cv_o-roas_spd-msp_spu-msp_sp-msp_pt-pb_pnl-com_l-en_pp-gads_bm-roa_pr-cpc_&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=1646595788&gclid=CjwKCAjw2vTFBhAuEiwAFaScwiZQnIn5KKhA5FIxkwHAxeh0IZLQonBaO6gM4u5Os3rquV5INo5AjxoCobwQAvD_BwE

then also consider a pair of bikini period briefs to wear underneath if required

I'm glad you asked with good intentions, I would ALWAYS prefer people to ask and educate themselves on any subject, like me with this post! Thinking about needing a towel seems so obvious but it completely passed me by lol may I suggest that you could change your wording though so as not to unintentionally cause offense? As I explained in my reply ND is very much a sliding scale, if you reword to "Is that too complicated for your ND child"
DD is very very excited to start lessons so I too hope she enjoys learning to swim, thank you for your kind wishes, the lessons don't start for a couple of weeks but I will pop back and update how she gets on x

Another thing I hadn't thought of was wet hair afterwards 🤦🏼‍♀️ can you tell its been years since I last went swimming? Lol
After her bath she normally lets her hair dry naturally but given the lessons are in the morning and she is then going back to school it's a good shout to think about this so thank you to the PPs who mentioned it.

DDs amazing teacher (I can never just write teacher as honestly the woman is an incredible human being who has made such a difference to the lives of the children in her class) did advise when we spoke that the plan is to have the children's clothes outside the cubicle and to pass each item under the door individually to lesson the chances of items of clothing getting soggy or dropped onto a wet possibly grimy floor but a very good shout on a small towel to stand on and to pack spare socks just in case thank you 😊

Depends on her needs/what works for her, but we found a laminated picture strip of the order for getting undressed/dressed etc when swimming really helpful. It helped promote independence but also reassurance if there wasn’t an adult immediately on hand to direct which item of clothing was next. It wasn’t that she couldn’t do these things herself generally, it was more she found it hard to process when in a different environment with noise and other children around. Also the order changed - socks go on later when changing after swimming than they did at home - so it helped with that too. We tried a written list as her reading was good, but she liked the pictures better so we stuck with them.

When I was a support worker taking people swimming I would use a running tshirt and shorts. They are tight to get off when we so might be worth looking for zipper ones if you go this way.

I forgot all about this thread! Just wanted to update to say thanks to all your help and tips I got DD all kitted out so she is comfortable and confident and she is LOVING her lessons 😀 the coaches have been brilliant with her and she is very excited to come swimming with me this half term to show me what shes been learning so far.
I did have to keep a straight face when she arrived home week one and told me she didn't need anymore lessons as she knew how to swim now! I explained that was brilliant but she should keep having lessons so she learns how to swim safely without the coaches being there and also to get even better at it lol

What a lovely update. You sound a great mum with you in her corner she will do great.

Swim shorts and swim t shirt. There's no need to wear anything skimpy. And reassure her she won't need to change in front of anyone. She can do so in a toilet cubicle if there really is no alternative?