Swimming is a potentially lifesaving skill and a great way to build a healthy family — but for families of special needs children, it presents many challenges. Children with sensory or social integration issues can have a hard time in an ordinary swim class. That’s why Fostoria’s Geary Family YMCA offers the adaptive aquatics program originally developed by Jim Beeson, which lets autistic and disabled children learn valuable water skills in a safe and nurturing environment.
“I started the program when I was with The Red Cross,” says Beeson, who now works in Toledo for the Educational Services Center of Lake Erie West. “I’d been a volunteer for over 40 years, and I’ve got some history of teaching swimming. It stemmed from a request from (what was then) the Medical College of Ohio in 1995 — they wanted a swim program for children with disabilities at preschool age. Since then, it’s just grown. And when they approached me to do something down there (in Fostoria), I was happy.”
The year-round program lets children come in once a week to learn basic water skills and also social ones. “Many of the kids we see, whether (they have) an autism diagnosis, cerebral palsy or down syndrome, the social interaction seems to be what’s missing,” Beeson says. “We work on those skills and teach swimming along the way.”
Beeson still works his full-time job in Toledo in addition to volunteering his time in Fostoria. He also has traveled across the country to teach other instructors attempting to create similar programs. Once students have mastered the basic skills, they can be moved (at their parents’ discretion) into a conventional swim class. And some do even better. “We have one kid who started when he was three and now he’s six or seven, and he’s on the (YMCA’s) swim team! He’s had some real growth,” Beeson says.
The program currently has a waiting list, but as more instructors are added, new opportunities will be available. Interested parents should contact the YMCA. 154 W. Center St., Fostoria. 419-435-6608.
www.gearyfamilyymca.org
