Special Olympics Class

[lilgymnast7]

Hi! I am looking into volunteering at my gym's special olympic class. There are kids with various disabilities in the class. I wanted to know if anyone had any experience with working with these children, specifially in a gymnastics environment. Does anyone have any advice to give me, or anything that I should know before starting? I have never worked with special needs kids, so I am not sure what might be in store or what to expect at all. I am excited nevertheless! Thanks!

 

[bogwoppit]

I have no experience on the gym with this group of kids but I just wanted to say how lucky you are to get to help these kids in the gym. My friends brother has downs syndrome and he is a sweetheart, always thrilled with his day.

 

[justanothergymmom]

Both of my older daughters (9 and 11 years old) volunteer as special olympic coaches/athlete volunteer/buddies. Both of them began volunteering when they turned 8 and have loved every minute of it. As much as the parents of the special olympic athletes say that my daughters are a blessing to their children, we feel equally that their children are a blessing to ours. Only advice I can offer is to have patience and respect for these wonderful individuals and find out about any special considerations that each may have. It is truly inspiring watching them train and grow as athletes. If you have any specific questions feel free to ask.

 

[CoachGoofy]

I *LOVE* coaching kids w. special needs. LOVE LOVE LOVE. (My background is in special ed & I ran a small tumbling program for kids on the autism spectrum for a while. It was SO fun).

Some athletes will likely need things broken down to smaller bits than typical gymnasts, & multi step instructions can be harder for a lot of them as well. Finding a different way to present the same thing until it clicks is a challenge- absolutely the fun kind of challenge.

When you go for it, remember that the athletes are gymnasts too, & they may have disabilities but they still want to be treated with the same respect as everyone else (not like very small children).

Have fun! There is NOTHING like helping a kid learn something they'd supposedly never do. It's the best.

 

[lilgymnast7]

Thank you so much everyone! I am super excited to be able to work with special needs children! I know patience and respect are very important especially with these kids. Advice is still welcome and thanks a bunch again!

 

[gymcoach26]

It will be the most rewarding class you probably ever will teach. As others have said, patience and respect are very important. Just like every child learns a bit differently, you will find an even greater learning curve with these types of classes. Be realistic with what your goals are and make them achievable for each individual child. For some kids, that may be just getting through an entire class without running out. Communication with the parents is also going to be verrry important. Alot of these children may have many "teachers" or aids, so keeping things consistent is important. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Lastly it's going to be important to stress safety and awareness of what is going around them more than you might normally have to in a regular class. In my experience with an Autistic child she LOVED the trampolines and would go darting off right through the boys team tumbling passes to get over there, not realizing how badly she could get hurt. This happened week after week and then we implented all holding on to a jump rope when traveling from spot to spot.

Goodluck and feel free to ask any more questions!!

 

[GymnastJoy]

Love this post! Great to hear that someone in the sport is looking to teach/train others to realize their potential. You are a very special person.

 

[Pickle's Mom]

I haven't worked in a gym with special needs kids, but I did do some work earlier in my career and I will pass along the best piece of advice I got: Rewards are proportional to risk. It may feel like you are really putting yourself out there if you haven't worked with kids in this situation before, but that will make the reward of the experience greater.

Good luck to you!