Mission Moment - April 6, 2018

Kelly Barker

Apr 09, 2018

Mission Moment

Most do not know the extent in which the West Suburban YMCA is involved with inclusion and adaptive programming.

One of the highlights of my week occurs on Wednesday at 4:15 when I go in the small pool with a group of three adaptive swimmers. The Y's Adaptive swim programs are designed to give children with disabilities opportunities to participate in swim lessons while focusing on developing both physical and social skills that will last a lifetime. One young man stands out in my mind. His name is Nathan and he has been swimming with me on Wednesdays since the fall of 2017.

When Nathan first arrived in the pool, he sank like a rock. He loved the pool, but simply sank to the bottom with little to no motion in his arms and legs. Through fun games and a lot of goofiness, Nathan is now able to float on his front and back, kick his feet and is now working on lifting his head out of the water when he needs to breath instead of stopping and standing to take a breath. 

The West Suburban YMCA has provided a safe space where Nathan can swim, take lessons with others, have a lot of fun and achieve his goals. Our lessons with Nathan and others do not have to follow a lesson plan like the other group lessons do at the Y; we go with the flow. I am so happy we can make swimmers like Nathan feel welcome, included and achieve his goal to learn to swim!