A Leap of Faith into the Deep End: My Autistic Perspective on Persevering and Passing the First Level of my Swimming Lessons
Try and succeed.
"You can get it if you really want, but you must try, try and try, try and try, you'll succeed at last." - Jimmy Cliff, You Can Get It If You Really Want
Well, I'm proud to report that I recently passed the first level of my swimming lessons. The class was tougher than I expected and pushed me far outside my comfort zone. There were times when I was tempted to throw in the towel (pun intended), but I resisted the urge to do so and hanged in there. Thankfully, I found creative ways to cope with each of the challenges I faced.
I resolved the lack of locker room privacy by showering discreetly before and after my lessons. I also chose lockers in the most secluded corner of the locker room to provide as much privacy as possible upon departure. When my lessons were over, I showered and changed as fast as possible, while all the other swimmers chatted and enjoyed their communal showers.
To supplement the lack of special needs accommodations, I turned to wikiHow, YouTube, and how-to books to further my knowledge. This visual approach taught me how to properly position my body in the water, correctly rotate my arms and kick my legs, and so on. As a result, I was finally able to adequately perform the back crawl without splashing water in my face or unintentionally changing directions in the pool.
Regarding the teenaged swimming instructor and her hands-off teaching style, I spoke with her privately and advocated on behalf of myself and my autism. I explained the assistance I need to succeed. This wasn't easy for me, due to my social anxiety, but this assertive approach finally got me some results. Our instructor jumped in the water and set aside a few minutes to help me out, which I greatly appreciated.
Despite my frustration over the lack of accommodation, I don't blame our instructor. She's a nice person, and it's honestly asking a lot of a teenaged girl in high school to adapt her teaching style to suit a grown man with special needs. The fault truly lies with organizers of the program for the limited aid towards disabled students in their recreational programs. I'm still planning to further advocate for my learning disability by researching how to address this issue.
Back on topic, I also analyzed myself to further pinpoint why I found this beginner swimming class so tough and frustrating. I realized that my mindset was part of the problem. Many of us on the spectrum get flustered easily, suffer from low self-esteem, and lack faith in ourselves and our abilities. As such, I falsely believed I was falling behind my fellow classmates, which further fueled my stress, anxiety, and frustration.
Becoming aware of my kryptonite, I did my best to silence the demons of doubt and maintain a positive outlook throughout my final lesson, regardless of any mistakes I made. In keeping with this strategy, I accepted a request from our instructor that I would've never imagined myself agreeing to at the start of the class: jumping into the deep end without a life jacket. It was a scary experience because the deep end of the pool is 10-feet deep.
This final test of courage was the scariest and toughest moment of the entire class. I was terrified but made the sign of the cross and prayed to God for strength. I then held my breath and took this huge leap of faith into the deep end. Somehow, I managed to remain calm while sinking and kicked my way to the surface. I was ecstatic to have faced and overcome my fear of the deep end, head-on. Our instructor was also impressed and asked the class to jump in a second time.
After accomplishing this final objective, our instructor congratulated the class and handed us our report cards. I finally saw that my fear of failing was far from the truth, and I'm glad I persevered to the end. In closing, I'm proud to have joined this school of fish and look forward to level 2. Until next time, love, peace, and chicken grease.