What Mum says...

"My son Teddy is 5 years old. He suffers severe anxiety in social situations especially with large groups of people. He does not speak at school.

Teddy has had swimming lessons with another private swim school on the Wirral. He had 4 lessons (an intensive course over the school holidays) and just froze in the water. He would not kick his legs and seemed very afraid and anxious.

I decided to contact Keith because I did a bit of research and found he had experience with children with special needs. I was initially considering private one to one lessons. Keith suggested we tried Teddy in a small class on a Saturday to see how he got on. He assured me that the pool (Kingsmead) was small as was the class size.

The first two lessons Teddy enjoyed but did not kick his legs and would not speak. Keith spent the whole lesson with him one to one. Keith suggested Teddy bring some of his favourite toys to the pool. The third week I couldn't believe the difference. Teddy was able to kick his legs and has made significant progress since. After 6 lessons I cannot believe what he can do. Every week I watch him with a tear in my eye so proud of what he has achieved. He is now swimming with the help of a float and shouting across the pool. He absolutely loves going swimming. He is so proud of himself.

This is all thanks to Keith and the other instructors. They are able to allow Teddy to have one to one instruction each week as they have plenty of instructors in the pool to teach the rest of the class. The classes are quiet and calm which have significantly reduced Teddy's anxiety levels. The other children in the class are fantastic confident swimmers and Teddy is well on his way to becoming one himself. Thanks Keith!" .

What Keith and His Team say...

We often discuss with parents and children what interests them. In the past we have used specific subjects like “Star Wars” © on laminated sheets and cards to focus children. With Teddy we found out he liked, “Little People”©. We asked Teddy to bring a few along and he never looked back. He chatters incessantly to the teachers throughout the lessons, shouting to mum, and wears the biggest smile you have ever seen!