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SN children

Here are some suggested organisations that offer expert advice on special needs.

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Original poster

suggestions for good sport/physical activities for our 5 year old ds with AS?

22 replies

fairylights · 20/12/2011 10:23

our ds is 5 and has been recently diagnosed with AS. Quite a big issue for him is his lack of co-ordination and he is beginning to notice it himself - he told me the other day he is "rubbish" at football at school and he was really upset about it. His teacher also mentioned to me recently that it is very noticeable in PE lessons that he is all over the place..
He currently goes to swimming classes (can't swim yet) and fun football sessions which he does mostly enjoy but I am aware at both places he is really struggling to follow the instructions and co-ordinate himself and is often flailing all over the place! Obviously I am happy for him to do anything he enjoys but we'd really like to help him find some kind of sport/physical activity that he might be good at and to help with the co-ordination stuff, and to build his confidence as much as anything. Any ideas? thanks

OP posts:

LeninGrad · 20/12/2011 10:34

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

IndigoBell · 20/12/2011 10:39

Have you looked at something like retained reflex therapy to help improve his co-ordination?

Has an OT made any recommendations to you?

While he is uncoordinated I'm not sure if you'll be able to build his confidence by doing sport.

EllenJaneisnotmyname · 20/12/2011 11:01

The DC I support goes to trampolining lessons, he's dyspraxic and has ASD. He can't get on with team games at all. 5 may be a bit young if he's struggling to follow instructions, but you may be able to find a sympathetic teacher.

IndigoBell · 20/12/2011 11:10

Actually, trampolining is a very good idea.

Or dance or gymnastics lessons.

Original poster

fairylights · 20/12/2011 11:16

thanks, all helpful.. can you tell me what sensory circuits are LG? And do you set up assault courses at home/in the garden? That sounds EXACTLY the sort of thing my ds would enjoy! He has huge amounts of energy and we have a very small house and garden so he is often bouncing off the walls..
we do have a trampoline in the garden though (which takes up half the garden!) and that is a great help, I still try and get him out on it at the moment but we are in Scotland and recently it has been under a lot of snow and ice
will look into retained reflex therapy Indigo, never heard of that either. DS has an excellent OT who has been brilliant with sorting things out for him at school. I guess we don't want to thrust him into sport exactly, its more than both DH and I are very unco-ordinated and were hopeless at PE etc (apart from running which we both enjoy!) and we are aware that we grew up to have no confidence in our physical abilities and would just like ds to grow up with a sense that he is physically able as much as is possible.
cheers

OP posts:

Original poster

fairylights · 20/12/2011 11:18

will look for trampolining classes too!

OP posts:

IndigoBell · 20/12/2011 11:26

Quick google for RRT in Scotland found me only this:

Aberdeen
INPP Scotland (not sure if this site works)

But lots of private OTs do it. If you check out the websites of all your closest OTs you might find one that does either RRT or a Neuro development program or sensory integration training.

Or a private OT could recommend daily exercises for him to do at home.

If you tell PM me where you live, I don't mind googling for you......

lisad123 · 20/12/2011 11:54

Both my girls do horse riding to help with core stability and gymnastics for control. We do also swim which helps with co-ordination

verybusyspider · 20/12/2011 12:43

we don't have dx but a very unco-ordinated ds (5.5yrs) who says he's rubbish at sport, hypermobile and 'immature running gait' very recently has orthotics which have helped (mostly with the confidence that he might be able to do it now)
He does swimming, riding bike - although prefers maxi scooter to get to school and we have a small trampette in garden
Did ballet last couple of terms and loved it (great for listening and general body awareness) but has asked to do gymnastics and starts after Christmas - tumble tots do older sessions as well which look good although we've not tried them.
We find he's better when he does something outside of school and his peer group, he tried football this term at local club but flattly refused to do it at after school club...

verybusyspider · 20/12/2011 12:43

lisad123 horse riding was suggested to us the other day for core stability - does it suit hypermobile child?

lisad123 · 20/12/2011 13:04

Yes one of mine has hm and her physio said it was fine but just be aware to wear good supportive boots and not to over do it.
With the gymnastics we have found a good coach who knows not to allow dd2 to over stretch. Hth

Chundle · 20/12/2011 13:06

Why don't you see if your local football team do sessions for young kids at weekends? It will help him immensely. My dd is in a football team and there's one boy on another team that has AS and he manages really well but I know his mum took him along to classes from about the age of 5 or 6 so that he didn't feel left out when the other boys played. There's quite a lot of kids with AS and dyspraxia in our league that play actually its nice to see them firstly joining in and secondly the progress they make his fantastic

IndigoBell · 20/12/2011 13:08

Disability Football

Chundle · 20/12/2011 13:52

Haha great minds indigo I was just coming back to link to that!

Original poster

fairylights · 20/12/2011 20:34

ah thank you all, you lovely people! Lots to follow up.. I think gymnastics might suit him, he did it before he started school and loved it. The disability football site looks ace but there isn't anything for his age in our area sadly. His current football class is for 3-5 year olds which suits him quite well as he has probably the co-ordination of a 3 year old! But I know the local club do classes for 5+ that are a bit more hard core and a friend had an awful time when some of the other parents complained to the coach that some of the "other" children were holding their kids back.. so that puts me off a bit!
Think I will have a chat to ds's OT about recommending a private OT. We didn't realize this when we met her but she happens to be Scotland's leading OT on sensory processing and co-ordination stuff in ASD kids so we feel very lucky to have her for free! But I guess she might do private work or know someone who does.
Anyway, this is all very encouraging, in general we are having a very difficult time with ds at the moment but I do think if we can work out some specific strategies for helping him unleash his energy positively whilst also having fun then it will help a lot!

OP posts:

Catsu · 20/12/2011 21:34

My ds is 6 and has as. He sounds similar, doesn't get on with football at all
He gets on better with gymnastics and dancing, also has recently clicked with swimming
he uses his scooter a lot too

Eveiebaby · 20/12/2011 21:36

If you wanted to try exercise at home I would say a bouncy ball (space hopper type thing without the handles) - I can't remember the proper name at the moment! or a Rocker Board. If you look on the Dyspraxia Foundation Website it gives some exercises you could try with the Rocker Board.

betternextlife · 20/12/2011 23:23

I have two DC with co-ordination issues. I found that sports with repetitive motions work best. Swimming has been really helpful and DS1 has just started kayaking (in a pool) whereas DS2 loves the Kata in his junior karate class.

lisad123 · 20/12/2011 23:32

Catsu we have both of those. We use a med size exercise ball and a rocker board which you have to choose right colours for.

bubble2bubble · 21/12/2011 14:55

Dd1 has got on really well with kickboxing - sounds bizarre I know but the constant left/right movements help massively with coordination and brain function and a lot of the exercises they do are geared towards improving core stability.

Some of the martial arts do involve quite a lot of contact which is probably not suitable, but kickboxing in the early stages at least is very strictly no touching! It's also not competitive

You would probably need to go and watch some classes before deciding. There can be some shouting which may not suit though dd gets on ok with this at class even though in general she can't stand shouting. Several of the kids in DD's kickboxing class have very obvious coordination or concentration difficulties ( even if the parents don't realise it ) but you can really see them progressing - it' s great to watch

singlevillagemum · 22/12/2011 10:24

To second betternextlife the Kata in karate is great for DS and he is really proud that he is 1 grade above his friends from school as he can remember the routines better. It has also helped him 'control' his body movements a lot.

Ds has also skiied from an early age and has taken to it like a whizz, guess that 'having no sense of danger' thing also works well.

We do swimming lessons every week, but it took 3 different swim schools to find a teacher who can work well with him and now he's really coming along.

Cycling has had a massive impact too. He now cycles to school every morning and his teacher has noticed a dramatic improvement in his transitions into the classroom as he's used up a lot of energy before even arriving. Have just had to buy yet another helmet though as he does tend to have quite spectacular crashes every so often! ["I was watching the rain drops" = crashing into a wall etc].

Oblomov · 22/12/2011 10:50

Ds1(7), diagnosed AS at 6, does Beavers and Karate. Both have been the making of him. He hates that he is crap at football. And PE. Totally un-co-ordinated. although he loves football generally. And also watches ALL premiership matches with Daddy. None of the kids wanted him on their team for sportsday. . but I told him he was so bright, he couldn't be good at everything. And he went off to read Captain Underpants and Diary of a Wimpy Kid, apparently happy.

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