I found true inclusion and now I don’t want anything less.

Rightly or wrongly I have decided that I want Wade to try mainstream activities first before we try disability specific ones. This is not a judgement on other parents choices, different kids need different things, it’s just the Plan A I have for Wade and then I’m prepared to go to Plan B if needed. But it’s hard to reconcile the high expectations I hold for him with the question that constantly rears it’s head in the back of my mind.

Are you doing this for him or for you?

It’s a challenge I constantly put to myself to try and keep myself in check when I plan a path for Wade. While it would be wonderful for me to high-five myself into next week for “achieving” full inclusion into 100% mainstream activities, it wouldn’t mean anything if Wade was struggling through them, constantly missing the message or just flat out not enjoying himself.

With all of that in mind however, I think it’s really important to ask “why not?” before I ask “can he?” when I’m choosing an activity. And so it was when I thought about swimming classes. I had thought about one-on-one hydrotherapy then I just thought…stick him in a class and see what happens.

When we first started, I was really apprehensive about it. Group classes…other parents and kids all much more physically capable than him. I wasn’t worried about how he compared to others…I know he has developmental delay and I don’t need him to be better than all the rest but I do need him to have the space and time to hear the instructions, and complete the movement in a way that doesn’t hold up the whole class. At the same time I need to give him the idea of what we are trying to do without rushing him.

We started at one class which was a disaster, the classes were disorganised and slap dash. Down syndrome had nothing to with it…I just hated the classes, so I decided to try Paul Sadler Swim School. Best decision I ever made. I went down for a tour and a chat and launched into the obvious about how Wade has Down syndrome and asked how much space would there be for him to learn at his own pace and blah blah blah….
It dawned on me quickly that I was the only one worried about Down syndrome here. It just wasn’t a problem. He was 18 months old but we would try him in with the youngest class and just see how he went.

His teacher, Alex was an absolute dream. We went at our own pace and I took my time with each element of the class and made sure that he was at least watching while I gave him a visual sign for each instruction. I constantly repeated the word for the movement at the same time as I was showing him. I was that crazy mother saying “Kick kick kick” over and over. There was this constant stream of noise coming from me as we did “monkey monkey monkey” then “swim swim swim”, “use your hands Wade use your hands”, but I really didn’t care. It was more important that Wade understood what we were doing and why. Each new milestone was met with huge celebrations and lots of cheering (from me mainly!).

Some days were easier than others and some days he loved more than others yet slowly but surely he started getting better. Alex would just appear to keep him on track and show him how each movement should look. Bit by bit over the last 12 months Alex and his other teacher Jacinda have helped me push Wade a bit further to test his skills and see what he can do.

When we first started we were given a big poster of all the levels that he had to reach before he could graduate to the kinder class. It seemed like a lot. Some of them he ticked off quickly and early, while others I started to wonder if he would ever do them. Every time he learnt a new skill we went home with a sticker to mark the occasion on the poster. I looked at the giant space that read “You have graduated to Kinder class” and wondered if he would ever get there. I couldn’t imagine him treading water, jumping off the edge safely or swimming without my help.

He started getting more and more stickers and I realised that with constant reinforcement and a bit more willingness for me to let go, he was learning really well. I will admit to letting go a few happy tears the day I took my hands away from his body and realised that he was swimming….on his own…(with floaties and a belt)…and loving it!

I’m not going to force him to be nice to people….and there’s a reason for that.

(A big thanks to Nykie of Mistral Photography for these beautiful photos of Wade!)

Recently Wade’s communication has been really taking off, and with it has come a new sense of independence and knowledge about what he likes and doesn’t like. He is more opinionated and his sense of humour is really coming alive! Now that there is a bit of to and fro to our conversations, it’s like he has more ownership in a conversation which is beautiful to watch.

We had a wonderful exchange this morning after he turned on the telly with the remote. It came on to a kids channel showing “Play School”. Wade loves pushing buttons so even though he is watching the show he likes or listening to a song he loves, he will still push buttons to turn it off or change the channel. He played with the remote and the channel changed so he came over to me, handed me the remote, pointed to the telly and said, “School”.
“You want me to put Play School back on?”
“Yeah”

This sounds like nothing but these kinds of exchanges are so remarkable when you think about it. A few months ago, he was just starting to speak, now he is not just copying what I say to him, he is using his words to initiate a conversation and get across how he feels about something. He has gone from the odd word here and there to hundreds of words, relentless attempts to copy full sentences, speaking in two and three word sentences and being so much clearer that people other than his nearest and dearest can actually understand what he is saying (or at least trying to say).

Photo by Nykie Grove-Eades of Mistral Photography

One “fun” aspect of his slowly developing language is the realisation that all those swear words I drop carelessly a into conversation have been softly landing in his memory bank. I discovered this through a recent bout of road rage as I heard coming from the back seat “Ah…SHT”. Now, this is a remarkable achievement for him and I should be celebrating because after three years of teaching him the word “Sheep”, we are no closer to him saying it. I have shown him flash cards, innumerable repeats of “Where is the Green Sheep”, soft toys, songs…all sheep related, all with me repeating the word “sheep” over and over but every time I say “What’s this?” I am told “Baaaaa”