ISR Swimming

One day at our YMCA, I noticed a woman teaching ISR (Infant Swim Resource) swim lessons and at first glance, the lesson seemed a bit rough. The child was crying as he was being thrown backwards in his clothes into the water. He would pop up to the surface and float, then turn onto his tummy and swim, then roll over and float and then turn over again, swim to the edge and get ready to pull himself out of the water. What I didn't realize was that this child was at the end of his ISR swim lesson training and was wearing his winter clothes while his instructor threw him in the water, to simulate falling into the water by accident. This child was going to survive an accidental fall.

Then one day, after several months of daily swimming with my own children, I threw Alex up into the air. I thought he had been learning to swim with me over the winter, but when he landed in the water that day, he sank to the very bottom and stayed there. I pulled him out by his foot and realized that if he were to fall into the many bodies of water that surround our house and daily lives, he would not survive. So, I enrolled Izzy and Alex in ISR swim lessons. We were very worried about how Alex would adapt to these challenging, 10-minute daily lessons, and so we let Izzy start for two weeks so that Alex could witness her success and want to join her. Starting Alex after Izzy turned out to be a good decision and by the time his turn came to take lessons, he was jumping out of his skin for "his turn".

Our swim instructor is very attune to the children she teaches. Each child is taught according to his ability and to how he is adapting to the lessons. She has slightly modified the lessons she gives Izzy to accommodate Alex's different learning style. Izzy jumps into everything and just goes. Alex, more cerebral and deliberate, needs to understand what he is being asked to do. He needs to take very small steps and do them repeatedly, even when it appears he may have mastered that particular step, before he is ready to move on to the next step. Our instructor listens to us and to Alex and has adapted in a way that makes Alex feel comfortable. He is being challenged, but it isn't scary. Although he still cries sometimes during a lessons, it is only briefly and not out of fear, but is his way of showing his emotion.

The incredible result is that after just two lessons, Alex is floating on his back very relaxed, and then she he turns over to swim to the wall (head under water), he does so, with eyes open, very bravely. The instructor provides only the most necessary physical support to allow Alex to feel that he is doing all this swimming on his own. In another few lessons, he will be doing it entirely on his own. When I was instructing him, if I even let go of him with one hand, he had a small meltdown. Now, he is swimming without support and believes he can do it.

I recommend ISR to every parent I meet. Many parents are afraid of the lessons because they see children cry sometimes. I see children cry sometimes in the Y lessons, which aren't even the least bit challenging to the children. And by the end of the ISR sessions (4-6 weeks, depending on the child, of daily 10 minute lessons), the children are water safe. Some can swim with strokes the full length of the pool and the younger ones (6 months) may only float. But none of them will sink to the bottom of the pool when they are thrown in. For children like Alex with physical disabilities, the swim lessons are even more important.

For more info on ISR swimming, visit their website at www.infantswim.com.