Sports clubs - is there a requirement to disclose my son's disability?

Fire_Fox

Your local council should be offering sports facilities and activities for all, have you contacted them? One issue is going to be training of the coach, another their insurance. Certain registration bodies prohibit you from working with populations/ offering sessions that you are not specifically qualified to instruct.

ceb1975

I've been reading this forum for years but until now have never bothered to register to post.
Your post makes me sad but also very cross. I was lucky enough to be in the arena last week when Louis Smith got his bronze with the team and Silver for Pommels. Louis is one of the best Pommel Horse workers of the modern gymnastics era and a fantastic ambassador for sport in this country.....and he also has ADHD. If Paul Hall and the rest of the team at Huntingdon had taken the same approach as your son's club many years ago then Team GB would have missed out on a superb champion.
Your son is a gymnast who should be coached on his merits, the ADHD and Autism are just part of who your little boy is. If you can send me a private message with your location then I can offer you some further assistance in getting your son into the correct coaching environment to nurture his talent.

tiamai_d

cheepskate wrote: »

I think it is unfair, with his disabilities to be putting him into a paid sport and not disclose his disability....not just for him, but also everyone else has paid as well and to have kids having meltdowns isnt really what people pay for.

I have just paid £135 for a months tennis coaching for our child and would leave the club if their time was taken up with disruptive children - disability or not.

As for 1-1 tuition, it should not matter to the trainer if the child is disabled as it will be coached to their ability, .

And people like you are the reason our children can't get into any clubs.

I bet you preach about equal rights and all that stuff, just not at your childs club huh?

CH27

mrs_sparrow wrote: »

I wonder if anyone else has experience of this or can advise.

I have called an endless number of clubs and groups with regards to my son starting with them, I get a response and they tell me he can start but if I tell them he has a disability no-one ever gets back to me again.

He has ADHD and Autism.

He goes to a little casual club and his coach tells me he has amazing gymnastic abilities but I cannot find a 'proper' club that will take him, or, if they do they will not progress him through more than the basics and because he is not being stretched enough this results in huge meltdowns then they tell him he has to leave. The clubs he is at now have no further equipment to train him further and we have reached a lull of him not wanting to go and do the same thing over and over.

So I was wondering if I should just not tell them he has something wrong with him and see how far it gets me. Do I have to? I do not leave him when he is at sessions so it's not like I would leave him and go, I would always be there. I really don't know what else I can do to progress him further in this sport as proper clubs are limited locally. I've even tried for 1:1 lessons but the coaches stop contacting me as soon as I disclose his conditions.

I did call British Gymnastics but they tell me they cannot help me and that they will get this lady to call me but she never does. It is just frustrating.

ETA: I've seen they have updated their site and you can now find clubs that offer gymnastics for disabled children but the nearest is an hour drive each way.

My niece goes to disabled gymnastics & has flourished. They have the staff ratios right & understand the children.
If I were you i'd do the drive to get your son the coaching & support he needs. My niece has to travel & her mum says it's more than worth it.

undaunted

Personally I think you'd be better off with someone in the know & wanting to help than someone "blind" so I would tell them.

I don't know where you are / who might help but in addition to Louis Smith I believe Michael Phelps and Ashley McKenzie (British Judo) have adhd so it can be done. Recent Guardian article on the subject

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/aug/01/athletes-with-adhd

Perhaps the Charity mentioned here may be able to suggest someone locally?

mrs_sparrow

Thank you for your replies, I will try and answer them all here.

Someone hit the nail on the head by assuming ADHD means he will aggresive, naughty and trouble - and this is why no-one wants him. First off my son is medicated during the week at school and when he is at clubs, his ADHD is not a problem really - he is not aggressive or 'naughty', he just like things to be done in a certain way, does not have many social skills (this is where the autism comes into it) and needs help remembering that he has to wait his turn or to calm down if he is getting too 'hyper' and excited.

I do not leave him anywhere, every club he goes to I stay, if there is a problem I deal with it, if he is having a bad day, we leave. Thankfully, the other parents at these clubs we go to are understanding of the condition he has.

If I was paying 1:1 lessons then I would expect the coach to work WITH me and find out how he can be helped and what issues his disability may cause. Instead they assume he will be trouble because he has these conditions.

The little trampoline club he goes to has a timer set up on the bed the side for him so he knows when it is his turn. This is the only 'extra' he needs for trampolining - simple and effective. However, again, it is a casual club and not one that awards badges.

It was not just about basics, yes I understand about repetition but let me tell you about this club he was at - within 3 weeks he had done his badge 10 (starts and 10 and works up to 1), the next term he was awarded another badge 10. A mistake? I told them and they apologised. Next term - another badge 10 - another apology. After the 5 badge 10's being awarded I removed him as he was getting stressy each lesson. This is not about not going over the basics, this is about being 12th in line to do a forward roll every week for 18 months without progression. Even my NT daughter had enough after a year. This club has 2 squads - girls and boys, the clubs they run (coaches are young teenagers) bring in the income for the squads and they pick out the kids that show potential. I asked if my son could have a trial for the squad and I was told 'applications were finished' when their website said that they had not and they had a shortage of boys and needed boys to trial for the squad. And then new boys were starting after I had asked.

It is incredibly frustrating. This club is not the first, there is a local tumbling club (which I thought would be of help - they also do gymnastics awards) and there was space for both my children until I disclosed the disability then they stopped contacting me and never returned my calls. It was not about 'being hard to get hold of as they were busy'. They just did not reply any more. They are not the first but are first in a long line of people who have not contacted me once I disclosed his conditions.

I honestly do not think that anyone would guess he had ADHD while he was medicated, he is a bit 'odd' because of the ASD but then other children can be odd too. This is why I asked if they needed to be told - there is nothing that would require him to need emergency assistance however, I would be there because I do not leave him. His trampoline coach has told me I can leave him there for a day club later this week, feels weird because, other than school, this will be the first time I have ever left him anywhere but once they do have him they understand that the condition is not what the media makes it out to be.

I'll answer the more specific stuff people have posted, thank you for your views though, they are helpful.

mrs_sparrow

Mrs_Imp wrote: »

Have you considered dancing lessons? Something like tap, ballet or modern? If he's good at gymnastics, then he might enjoy it. You may find a local dance school who'd take him for a trial, or even offer 1:1 lessons.

Look on the websites for IDTA, ISTD and RAD to see of there are any schools in your area.

Thank you for your suggestions Mrs Imp, unfortunately he is not the least bit interested in dance classes, they are offered at the same place he goes to Gym (and they are £1 a week, wow!!) but he is not interested, it is just Gym that he loves.

mrs_sparrow

Mrs_Imp wrote: »

To be honest, with the recent olympic successes in gymnastics there are likely to be waiting lists for most gymnastics clubs, so lack of response may have nothing to do with his disabilities. If he has his heart set on gymnastics, then persevere, but if he just enjoys it, then keep looking for alternatives that he may enjoy just as much.

There was space for them, nothing to do with waiting lists.

Persevere how? I am running out of clubs I have disclosed to so I either have to go back and hope they do not remember his name (I've actually done this today which prompted my asking the question) or I travel further and further afield each time to try and find somewhere different.

thegirlintheattic

Maybe word has gotten around about his meltdowns. In our area a child has had outbursts that results in him kicking furniture and throwing things, as soon as it got around that he had these outbursts no one wanted anything to do with him.

Perhaps instead of giving them just his 'labels' explain the actual problem. You are still going to have the problem that sports training is repeatative and if you want your son to progress to higher levels, no outbursts or such will be tolerated.

**Patty**

Speaking as a parent who's child has progressed well enough in their chosen sport to be looking at national squads (no its not gymnastics)......i have to say.....an hour's drive is nothing.

My daughter's coaching sessions are a 2 hour drive each way from where we live. If gymnastics is worth persuing for your son, then you're going to have to look outside of the immediate area.

Good coaching is worth the drive imo.

Oh & get used to it being repetitive. After 3 years of international competetion, she still does basic drills now