Anna Jackson

ESSAY: ANNA JACKSON

BUILDING CONFIDENCE AND PROVIDING SAFETY IN THE WATER - NASHVILLE DOLPHINS

Growing up as a typical kid, there are challenges at each phase of life-physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially. Growing up as a special needs kid, there are even more challenges than usual. Many adults and children with special needs face additional challenges throughout their lives including health issues, learning exceptions, and social isolation. According to worldbank.org “one billion people, or 15% of the world’s population, experience some form of disability.” People with disabilities are more likely to experience adverse socioeconomic outcomes such as less education, poorer health outcomes, lower levels of employment, and higher poverty rates (World Bank). In addition to the multitude of socioeconomic and emotional issues accompanied by being a person with special needs, water can also be a danger. Water is everywhere, making up seventy-one percent of the earth (USGS). Drowning is the number one cause of death for children with special needs. Often, special needs children do not understand or appreciate the danger associated with water. Luckily, in Nashville, there is a 501c(3) organization dedicated to addressing this alarming statistic. For my service scholar project, I worked with a local non-profit, Nashville Dolphins. The mission of the Nashville Dolphins is “to combat the alarmingly high statistic of drowning deaths in children and adults with special needs by providing FREE, lifelong, comprehensive adaptive aquatic lessons and training ranging from water safety and survival through competitive swim team programming.” (Nashville Dolphins). Coming into this experience, I had a lot of time in and around water under my belt. I had already been swimming competitively for eight years. I was also a trained lifeguard and had worked for several summers in that capacity as a swim coach for my summer swim team. I already knew that learning to swim had many physical benefits. However, I did not know just how much swimming could also help improve mental and emotional wellness. I was also unaware that water was such a danger to children with special needs. Throughout my time volunteering with the Nashville Dolphins, I observed many of the benefits of swimming for people with special needs.

Physical Benefits of Swimming:

One of the obvious benefits of swimming is physical. Swimming has been described as the best exercise in the world for the entire body (Healthline). Swimming helps build muscles, improve strength, refine balance and motor skills and improve range of motion all while working your lungs and heart. Swimming uses all the muscles in your body. Gliding through the water while swimming different strokes helps build core strength as well as improve your equilibrium and coordination. Children with special needs often have low muscle tone and trouble balancing. Swimming helps children with special needs make improvements in all areas of physical health and can also make them healthier in the long run. “Just two and a half hours per week of aerobic physical activity, such as swimming, bicycling, or running, can decrease the risk of chronic illnesses. This can also lead to improved health for people with diabetes and heart disease.” (CDC) According to

Sea Otter Swim, another organization that offers adaptive swim lessons, just being in the water can be soothing for individuals with special needs. Human bodies become very buoyant in water which allows people to have a greater range of motion and helps improve their flexibility (Sea Otter Swim).

Mental Benefits of Learning to Swim:

In addition to physical benefits, swimming also provides mental benefits. There is a mental health crisis in our world. Approximately 1 in 4 people experience a mental health problem at some point in their lives. Adults with special needs in particular face increased mental health problems. According to the CDC, a recent study found that adults with disabilities report experiencing more mental distress than those without disabilities (CDC). Some mental health problems that are really common are anxiety and depression. Anxiety and depression are known to cause physical symptoms like rapid shallow breathing and a high heart rate. Swimming can help to combat mental health disorders and disruptions by helping to regulate breathing which releases tension and lowers blood pressure. Endorphins are released by the brain during swimming. Endorphins are a group of hormones secreted within the brain and nervous system and have a number of physiological functions like reducing pain and giving sensations equal to pleasure (Healthline). Swimming allows brains to feel good and release endorphins. The human nervous system produces endorphins to help us deal with pain or stress. Endorphins can alleviate pain, promote positivity, and boost one’s sense of wellbeing. Additionally, the color blue, found in many pools, is known to help relax our psyche. I have personally noticed and benefitted from some of the mental benefits of swimming. I do not worry or think about what is going on around me when I swim because I have to focus on what I am doing at the moment. People with special needs experience the same mental benefits from swimming.

Emotional Benefits of Learning to Swim:

At a young age, it is very important to make and learn social skills. Expressing emotion is part of being social and is an area in which children with special needs often struggle (The M Center for Pediatric Wellness). Swimming provides a great opportunity to learn these skills. When learning to swim on a team or in a class with other peers, people like those served by the Nashville Dolphins learn to collaborate and learn with others. Communicating with others is an important life skill. Children with special needs often find it hard to express their feelings or tell you what they want so swimming on a team is a great way for them to learn communication skills. Children who start swimming at an early age tend to have more confidence. Building confidence with swimming allows for the children to open up more and learn to communicate with their peers better. Swimming also helps build social skills. As a swimmer, I see swim meets as a time to compete but also a time to interact with my peers. Swimming has taught me to open up and be myself. I have seen some of the same benefits in the Nashville Dolphins swimmers. Several of the parents of swimmers have commented on how swimming has helped their children become better communicators.

How do the Nashville Dolphins Accomplish Their Mission:

Nashville Dolphins accomplish their mission by providing free swim lessons for children with special needs. A typical week for a Dolphin consists of two practices for an hour each. The organization is mostly run by volunteers who come and help coach the swimmers. At each practice, there are two groups: the advanced swimmers and the swimmers still working to learn all of the swimming strokes. The 4 strokes are butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle. I tend to work with the more advanced swimmers on perfecting their strokes and helping them learn drills to make their strokes better. We focus on one stroke each practice to get the most out of the practice. We teach the kids to have goals. In addition to building confidence, this helps swimmers to step out of their comfort zone. This is difficult for some of the Dolphins. To help a swimmer accomplish their goal, I might have to get in the water and show them that it is something that they can do. I let my swimmers know that if I can do something, they can do it too. At Dolphins’s practice, the parents are not allowed on deck. Parents can often be distracting. Removing the parents from the pool area allows the special needs swimmers to reach their full potential in the hour of practice. A Dolphins’s practice may not look like a typical swim practice because we sometimes have to demonstrate or explain things differently for the swimmers to understand. The goal is always safety and fun. At the end of practice, we always do a cheer and everyone forms a circle because we leave no Dolphin behind. One of the swimmers, Mac told me this important phrase at one of the first practices that I attended. I will never forget his wisdom. Inside or outside the pool, we need to learn to leave no one behind.

How the Dolphins Affected My Life:

Working with the Nashville Dolphins, I have realized that children and adults with special needs are an important part of our society. I have learned as much about life from working with the Dolphins as I have taught them about swimming. I was also inspired to work on becoming certified as an AngelFish Swim Whisperer Instructor to learn advanced training in the expertise of adaptive swim.

Work cited

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Media, 30 Nov. 2021, https://www.healthline.com/health/endorphins. “Disability Inclusion Overview.” World Bank, https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/ disability#1. “Drowning Facts.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention, 17 June 2021, https://www.cdc.gov/drowning/facts/index.html. “Emotional Regulation & Special Needs: Causes, Strategies & Skills.” The M Center for

Integrative Wellness, 30 Sept. 2020, https://themwellnesscenter.com/emotionalregulation-special-needs-causes-strategies-skills/. “5 Mental Health Benefits of Swimming Outside.” Swim Guide, 21 July 2021, https://www. theswimguide.org/2020/03/20/5-mental-health-benefits-of-swimming-outside/.

“Get Certified as a Swim Whisperer.” Swim Angelfish, 13 Jan. 2022, https://swimangelfish. com/get-certified-as-a-swim-whisperer/. “Health Benefits of Water-Based Exercise.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4 May 2016, https://www.cdc.gov/ healthywater/swimming/swimmers/health_benefits_water_exercise.html.“How

Much Water Is There on Earth? Completed.” How Much Water Is There on Earth? |

U.S. Geological Survey, https://www.usgs.gov/special-topics/water-science-school/ science/how-much-water-there-earth#:~:text=About%2071%20percent%20of%20 the,percent%20of%20all%20Earth’s%20water. Lauretta, Ashley. “Swimming Is the Best Full-Body Workout for Your Health.” Healthline,

Healthline Media, 17 Aug. 2017, https://www.healthline.com/health/fitness-exercise/ swimming-is-the-best-workout-you-need-to-do. Person. “Swimming Improves Mental Health: How Swimming Eases the Mind.” Just Swim, 24 Sept. 2019, https://www.swimming.org/justswim/swimming-improves-mentalhealth/. “Six Ways Swimming Benefits Your Mental Wellbeing.” Private Healthcare, https://www. bupa.co.uk/newsroom/ourviews/benefits-of-swimming. “Swim Lessons for All Ages.” Sea Otter Swim Lessons, 14 Jan. 2022, https://www. seaotterswim.com/. “Swimming - Health Benefits.” Swimming - Health Benefits - Better Health Channel, https:// www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/swimming-health-benefits.

REFLECTION: ANNA JACKSON

NASHVILLE DOLPHINS

This summer I partnered with the Nashville Dolphins, an organization focused on providing swim lessons to lower the risk of accidental drowning for people with special needs. I chose to serve this organization because of the connection I felt with the Dolphins as a swimmer and my experience of learning to live with dyslexia. While I work hard in the water, swimming comes rather naturally to me. Reading, on the other hand, requires me to concentrate and sometimes means that I need to get help. The combination of my natural talent in the water with my ability to understand what it is like to face a challenge made volunteering with the Dolphins a wonderful fit.

I volunteered by helping coach practices, getting in the water with swimmers, participating in special events, and maintaining a positive attitude. Through my experience with the Dolphins this summer, I learned what it feels like to serve.

The best feeling in the world is what I got when I saw the smiles on the children’s faces and heard their laughter as they learned to swim. Yes, I was teaching them a valuable skill, but seeing how the swimmers reacted when they accomplished their goals was priceless. I remember seeing Ethan put on goggles for the first time after refusing

to wear them for several years. He was so proud of himself. I could feel his joy and amazement as he swam through the water without struggling to keep his head down because the water was no longer hurting his eyes.

I was amazed at the sense of community I felt when I gave back to others. I felt like I belonged to a group that supported its members. The Dolphins certainly made an emotional connection to my life. Working with the Dolphins taught me patience and taught me how to love with an open heart and mind. Mac, one of the oldest Dolphins, always says that no Dolphin should ever be left behind. He taught me to wait on everyone so that all Dolphins are included in the team cheer at the end of practice. His enthusiasm for making sure everyone is a part of the team is contagious. I carried this enthusiasm into my own life by trying to ask each person in my advisory about their day. Making people feel wanted and included is important to me and was certainly made more important because of the strong sense of community that is part of the culture built around the Dolphins.

To me, serving others means giving back and giving people a true place where they belong exactly how they are. One story in particular that I will always remember happened while I was teaching this boy named Elighi how to swim backstroke. He could not move his arms the right way and had been struggling for the longest time. I started helping him over the summer and one day he finally got it. I remember the smile on his face. Somehow, I actually got the moment on video. When he watched it, he said, “I actually did it. I am so proud of myself!” Seeing his reaction and pride after his accomplishment is one of the many joys I have gotten from working with the Dolphins. I have learned to never take anything for granted and to not be afraid of being my true self! I used to hide the fact that I struggled with reading and did not always understand words. After working with the Dolphins, I realized that I should not hide who I am because there is probably someone else out there going through the same thing. When people feel accepted and loved for who they are, the world is a better place.

I learned through all this that serving others actually helped me become a better person. Serving others means more than just getting it done-it means making new friends, learning about people’s stories, and doing something for someone other than myself. It is difficult to really know what someone is going through in their life. It takes a special person to listen to a person speak without judging them based on what they look like or how they act. Service means a lot to me because I want to be a part of a community that focuses on bigger causes than an individual’s-a community that serves others and gives back to the world. I have learned that serving others makes my day because I get to see what an impact giving back to the community with my own talents has on the people that I serve.