Reply to There is favoritism in swimming

Forum Index » Swimming and Diving

Reply to "There is favoritism in swimming "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Even the OP of this (really pedantic) thread misses an opportunity:

(1) Favoritism disadvantages people with neurodivergencies;
(2) Most coaches (outside of perhaps special educators) are ill-equipped to see beyond the conformist-behaved child and work within a neurodivergency rather than push against it and blackball it;
(3) Many replies to this post support (1) and (2), suggesting an outcast status — notwithstanding swimming ability — for children who are unable to conform to average (or exceptional) attention span, average (or exceptional) engagement, and average (or exceptional) communication.
This post says more about people’s disfavor for neurodivergent children than it does about private planes and giving a kid a spot in an A meet (which, BTW, you can look up the private plane borrower’s children to see where the facts stand to that end).

We need to do better.[/quote]

I read this as, “my kid requires significant special and extra attention for the same price as everyone else.  S/he doesn’t get that attention, and that’s a problem.  Society is broken.”   I’d love to be corrected if this isn’t the case.

[/quote]

Dp: I don’t know if that’s what she meant. You should really look at it in the light of a different kind of attention and understanding versus special or extra.

If you have a deaf kid, they’re not going to hear your instructions well, but with the right attitude they’ll follow you. A deaf kid with regular attitude will not follow you as well. So you either have to make adjustments to your coaching or to your ego and not take it personally.

[b]In the case of the neurodivergent kid, as a coach, you don’t actually ‘see’ the disability like you would deafness. So, you chalk it up to misbehavior or extra attention[/b].

Maybe if you’re a better human, you’d come in with the desire for a better attitude.

Yes, society is imperfect, but these coaches are not just anyone. They’re in a special position, like teachers. Therefore we should expect better from them. [/quote]

This is perfectly said. [/quote]

As a parent, wouldn’t you give the coach a heads up that your swimmer is neurodivergent? With the analogy of the deaf swimmer, you wouldn’t just drop off the kid at the first practice and hope the coach figures out that little Sally can’t hear the instructions. You are the parent, advocate for your child so that the coach can adjust for your child[/quote]

Parent of a hard of hearing kid here. Yeah, I always talk to coaches to explain that they will not hear as well and that they have to closer (not just louder) and check for understanding. Swimming adds an extra challenge because hearing aids can't be worn in the water. Because the disability is no longer visible, I think the coaches sometimes forget that my kid can't hear what they are saying sometimes. Even with the hearing aids on in other settings, it's hard to get people to understand that they are not a magic fix. I am trying to teach my child to advocate for themselves but it's a work in progress.

I feel for parents whose kids are neurodivergent. Not only is their disability invisible, it's not as straightforward as just asking a coach to get closer or repeat instructions. It's usually a lot more work to accommodate them. Coaches do not generally have training in working with kids with disabilities unless they happen to be a teacher. I don't think you can hold them to quite the same standard. Even if you think they "should" be able to work with all kids, it's not reality. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics