Flip, Flip
Those are dolphins but, in their slick ease in the water, they remind me of Charlie—-or perhaps it is rather that Charlie, who glides back and forth atop and under the water and often with a smile of simple delight (as if to say “eureka!“—”I found it!”), makes me think of dolphins. It is not for nothing I once called him The Kingfish on seeing him execute backwards and frontwards flips in the deep end, and sink oh so slowly to the bottom and let himself float leisurely back up to the surface, limbs loose as a rag doll’s.
I have written before of the ocean as Charlie’s natural element and, more recently, reflected on the water and the pool as the particular place for inclusion for Charlie: In the water, his swimming skills are as good as those of a child his age and he splashes no more, or gets more distracted by the foaming water at the bottom of the slides, than the average boy his age.
Charlie turned two flips in a row in the pool today, both backwards, his curling body underwater the whole time. It was quite a feat and it was no mean one, especially as the pool was only three and a half feet deep: It is the “family pool” at our YMCA. There are two regular-sized pools, but one is only for lap-swimming and for adults, and the other is in use by the children in the YMCA’s sports camps in the afternoons. So Charlie is limited to a pool that he can clearly stand up in, and that has some significant distractions: those water slides and a wading pool that he loves to lie down his full length in—and also to splash and run in, which is not, perhaps, the best thing to do when also in the wading pool are young mothers with babies and toddlers.
And because Charlie is limited to pools for those younger than him, and for those, perhaps, with less swimming ability than him, it seems to many that he cannot do too much in the pool: Charlie can swim a few laps easily, but when people see and hear him, and see me hovering nearby so he will go “under the ropes” after getting off the slide (instead of trying, as he did once, to climb back up it), they seem to assume that some splashing and jumping is the extent of what he can do in the pool, and repeatedly recommend a beginners’ swim program. I smile and explain we’re thinking private lessons (though there is a six month waiting list and the lessons only run for two weeks.) An initial inquiry into the Special Olympics was not met with the greatest of welcomes (perhaps Charlie is too young yet; we will try again). And then I start to feel that twinge, that my child and all he can do are not being adequately represented because he is in a setting that severely limits what he or anyone can do: A wading pool is for wading. The twinge comes again; Charlie could not attend sports camp, certainly not without an aide and the pace and the social aspects and the skills are quite beyond him. When some thirty campers come into the family pool, Charlie works his way to the edge of the pool and then climbs out and asks for a towel, cautious and quiet.
It is a contradiction not to be resolved: Charlie can only display a limited range of his skills in a limited environment. (Translation: Place a special ed child in a setting with limited possibilities and expectations and you may well see limited results…….) And yet, as Charlie turned those two flips today, I thought of how it can be said that he is trying to push the bounds of the limited spaces he so often has to inhabit, has to make do with: Charlie is five feet tall and turned his flips (and backwards) in just three and a half feet of water. He literally bends his long torso and legs into a ball, and his stomach must just skirt the concrete bottom.
Perhaps it is that he is simply practicing for the big pool; biding his time for the main event.
I did say it above: Charlie is The Kingfish.
Photo courtesy of Sandpoint Marketing via Flickr.
5 opinions for Flip, Flip
Daisy
Aug 2, 2007 at 6:10 pm
Keep calling, keep asking! You will eventually run into the right contact person for the private lessons or the Special Olympics. They will be so lucky to have Charlie in their programs.
Kristina Chew, PhD
Aug 2, 2007 at 9:27 pm
Thanks for the encouragement—–it was rather deflating to get the response we did last time.
athina
Aug 3, 2007 at 11:21 am
My son, Stathis-Nickolas, also loves water and swimming. We are thinking of starting swimming lessons at fall in our town’s brand new olympic pool. Stathis (his name means something like ’stable’ in Greek) has been practicing his swimming skills during summer at the sea (thank God, we live by the sea). I’d like to offer him the same delight (indeed swimming is a delight to him) dutring winter but I’m sceptical about chemicals in the water.
Julia
Aug 17, 2007 at 11:52 pm
One of the teacher’s at Sam’s school was trying to put together a swim program to prepare for Special Olympics, and the caveat on that was that while she was willing to teach any of the children at his school, only children 8 and older could compete. Charlie is older than 8. There might be variation from one state to the next, but keep looking for information on it.
Bonnie Sayers
Jun 9, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Have you tried the Special Olympics again? I thought the starting age there was 8. I considered it for Matthew since he loves to skip but it would be a long drive on the other side of the city and last two cars A/C did not work well. I should look at their website and see what they have for middle school students. I know Best Buddies is another program for kids their age, but probably more for kids who are mainstreamed.
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