Miss Annette's ISR Lessons

Our son is neurodivergent, daring and adventurous. He has no fear when it comes to anything, especially the water! We have a pool in our backyard, and it has been a worry of mine that he would be hurt or worse, especially with his sensory issues and lack of body awareness. I thought these issues would make him a poor candidate for ISR, but Annette helped me see that it is in fact even more important for him to learn to rescue himself and survive! He is fearless, which isn’t always a great thing in water. Annette and ISR walked us through special protocols based on S’s history and needs to help him become competent at self rescue in the water. His occupational therapist also said that this type of swim instruction is great for kids like S because it is sensory learning. He is getting input that he couldn’t get otherwise, which helps him learn his body and regulate his nervous system. S has been a bit behind or struggled with many things in his short life, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. He is actually doing GREAT at ISR! He is thriving in the routine of lessons, the firm boundaries and rules set by Miss Annette for safety, and the endless encouragement he gets at lessons. He comes and goes from lessons beaming because he knows he’s going to learn and be cheered on the whole time! S is learning that he can do hard things! Even better, I am feeling much better about having a pool and enjoying it with my family this summer. I can’t say enough good things. I wish every family knew about ISR, and more specifically, I wish every family could learn to swim with Miss Annette!

It is amazing watching your children go from sinking like a rock and scared of the water to confident swimmers! I struggle to put it into words because it was really so transformative for our family. We have older kids-7 & 8 and Miss Annette was willing to teach them. B has autism and she was so patient with him-remaining consistent and persistent-when he finally relaxed, she was able to work with him to embrace his experience. Now he says how cool and fun it is. Both children have shown tremendous growth and we feel safer with them around water!