"When I'm in the pool, I feel truly free for the first time, because I can move without anyone's help." That's what a boy with severe cerebral palsy told me one Saturday—a day like so many others when I volunteer at a swimming program for teenagers at a center in Rome. He speaks with great difficulty, but his words were unmistakable.
With his inflatable ring and holding onto the pool edge as best he can, he moves back and forth along the length of the tank.
I think all the kids who come to the pool during their reserved hour experience this sense of freedom and joy. Even the most severely disabled ones would say the same thing, if they could speak—and they're the ones who benefit most of all. You only need to watch their eyes, see the relaxed muscles in their faces, or listen to their cries of delight to understand how vital this time is for them. Immersing yourself in water, losing the weight of your own body, and at the same time doing exercises that are genuinely good for motor development—it's one of the most healing therapies you can imagine, from every angle. Especially for the most severely affected. In fact, most of all for them.
"In the water I feel truly free, because I can move without anyone's help."
"In the water I feel truly free, because I can move without anyone's help."
You might ask: how do you get a severely disabled person into a pool and give them this sense of freedom? Here's what I believe: the most severely affected children often learn to float most easily. There's a simple method that doesn't require fancy equipment or highly trained staff.
All you need is a pool, one adult willing to get in the water, and an inflatable pool noodle about three feet long and six inches across.
The first time—especially if it's a child's first time in a pool or the ocean—they may cling to their companion in every way possible, their whole body rigid. In that case, hold the child against your chest and go under the water with them. That makes them feel safe.
Once they're comfortable with the water, the stiffness gradually eases. Then you can introduce the noodle. Don't expect this to happen on day one. Sometimes it takes many sessions, and you need patience.
Place the inflated noodle under the child's neck and under their armpits, supporting them at the hips with one hand if needed.
Little by little, you'll see that this support becomes less and less necessary. When the child feels secure with just the noodle under their armpits, you can begin to gently deflate it, day by day. The parent or caregiver has to judge how much air to release—sometimes you might need to pump it back up a bit—but over time, the air comes out until one day the nearly-flat noodle is doing nothing but reassuring them psychologically. At that point, you can remove it entirely. The child has learned to hold themselves up in the water. Of course, the instructor stays close by, ready to help at any moment. Too easy? Too hard? Impossible?
If someone had told me years ago that my daughter could float without help in a pool, at the beach, or in a lake, I wouldn't have believed them. Today, when she goes to the pool, she lives one of the most beautiful moments of her life. A father's word.
by a father, 1986