Teenage autistic sailing opportunities?

Yellow Ballad

Yellow Ballad

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My 15 year old Nephew is mildly autistic (forgive my ignorance as I've never really looked or asked about it), he's able but has a few speach and social issues but otherwise fully capable. I took him sailing last year and despite a bit of reluctance he loved the couple of hours of sailing we did. I plan to take him out more if he wants to but I wonder if anyone knows of any opportunities by a professional organisation or sailing schools? It doesn't have to be yachts, I'm sure he'll really enjoy dinghy sailing and would be happy to pay for an RYA class to get him on the water but would rather somewhere that has instructors that are able to relate to how he might react to his condition(?) or rather get the best out of him.

Like I say I'm pretty uneducated on autisim and I hope this hasn't offended anyone but posting on here might give me a better understanding/ideas for what might be good things for him to try.

Kind regards

Tom
 
Might qualify for a Sailing for the Disabled group?
Probably one near you. Locally the Woolverstone Project takes all types of disabilities both physical and mental. I would think that Autism would be included.
 
Depends so much on the boy himself. Autism covers a huge range from mildly odd and quirky to profoundly disabled. You can tell a lot from how he manages at school. If he is in a mainstream school and doing okay without any additional help then he should be capable of accessing mainstream sailing opportunities. On the other hand if he has support in school then he is likely to require a similar level of support outside.

For anything other than mild autism (commonly known as aspergers) you would not want to put him into an unfamiliar situation without the close supervision of someone who knows him very well.

There are a number of disabled sailing charities out there and I guess they work by allowing a volunteer/helper with each disabled customer.
 
Yellow Ballad said:
My 15 year old Nephew is mildly autistic (forgive my ignorance as I've never really looked or asked about it), he's able but has a few speach and social issues but otherwise fully capable. I took him sailing last year and despite a bit of reluctance he loved the couple of hours of sailing we did. I plan to take him out more if he wants to but I wonder if anyone knows of any opportunities by a professional organisation or sailing schools? It doesn't have to be yachts, I'm sure he'll really enjoy dinghy sailing and would be happy to pay for an RYA class to get him on the water but would rather somewhere that has instructors that are able to relate to how he might react to his condition(?) or rather get the best out of him.
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If you fancy bringing him to Scotland, the Galloway Activity Centre on Loch Ken (I am only a customer) makes a speciality of sailing for people with disabilities. In fact they are running a children's course at the moment, every Saturday: mobility problems in the morning and sensory ones in the afternoon. I have separately seen them teaching a lad of similar age and in what, from what you say, sounds like a similar position, and they were very understanding and effective.

OK, a long way from Bristol but I am sure he'd get friendly and helpful tuition there. www.lochken.co.uk.
 
Thanks, I've got a few good leads. Scotland might be a bit far but he does visit friends in Southampton quite a bit.

Unfortunately he's on the edge of going to a "normal" school and something a bit more specialist. His parents have pulled him out of his autistic school (for some reason), I think he's not getting the needs with the teachers spending a bit more time with the kids that need the help more. Hence me looking into things that might help him as he's in a bit of a pickle at the moment without the routine of school.

I'll fire off a few emails and see what comes back, it's more finding somewhere that are used to working with people with autism than just going sailing with his boring uncle and dad.

Cheers
 
Contact the Rona Trust, operating as the London Sailing Project out of Universal Shipyard on the Hamble. Google is your friend.

I used to sail with them and they regularly sail with "challenging" teenagers on regular cruises. Notwithstanding that, they also have "special" voyages for more handicapped kids, where they come with chaperones. They have three vessels, Marylynn, Rona 2 and Donald Searle. Marylynn is a custom built Ocean '66 and a normal voyage has a "grown up", qualified, volunteer afterguard consisting of Skipper, mate and two Watch Officers with another two experienced Watchleaders who have been drawn from previous trainees and are aged between 17 and 22. They are also well supported by the City of London and as a consequence, their berth fees are relatively low.
 
Well done everyone for such a positive, inclusive and understanding tone, it is not always the case. My son is nearly 7 and autistic, and life is challenging. He loves the boat but certain things bother him, the engine being one of them if needed. Not being able to swim is my biggest fear but we are working on that as it prevents any real trips right now. I know i’m hijacking somewhat but there’s lots of useful info here for me too and much appreciated.
 
I like what Bedouin wrote. My 22 year old son is "autistic" with complex needs. Trouble is that description really means very little until you meet him. And the "disabled" charity groups or however you describe them are almost as varied in their approaches and client group. I've never found anything out there that works for my son but equally he is really happy with me on our big boat, adores the scenery and chills out listening to his headphones. Thrill seeking on a hobie on holiday and he is laughing his head off with joy. But he has no real appreciation of risk or how to sail. It is great if your nephew can get into sailing and absolutely fine if he doesn't like it. But his parents will be appreciating your efforts for sure!
 
James W said:
Well done everyone for such a positive, inclusive and understanding tone, it is not always the case. My son is nearly 7 and autistic, and life is challenging. He loves the boat but certain things bother him, the engine being one of them if needed. Not being able to swim is my biggest fear but we are working on that as it prevents any real trips right now. I know i’m hijacking somewhat but there’s lots of useful info here for me too and much appreciated.
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FairweatherDave said:
... Trouble is that description really means very little until you meet him...
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There's a truism there. As humans, we are very good at labelling / boxing issues (and people) into neat constructs. I would recommend if you want to encourage him into sailing that you pursue an organisation with some familiarity on the types of issues which may be encountered by those with ASD. For example, a wheelchair friendly boat with sighted instructors to help those with limited sight still might not be the best learning environment for them.
 
If your nephew visits Southampton, check out Sailability at SWAC. They take people with disabilities out in various boats plus there are instructors for everything floaty-related. There will be someone who can assess his needs and see what they can offer. Swac have dinghy sessions for youngsters including one-on-one, always with safety boats in attendance, if anyone can get him out on the water it's those guys.
 
James W said:
Well done everyone for such a positive, inclusive and understanding tone, it is not always the case. My son is nearly 7 and autistic, and life is challenging. He loves the boat but certain things bother him, the engine being one of them if needed. Not being able to swim is my biggest fear but we are working on that as it prevents any real trips right now. I know i’m hijacking somewhat but there’s lots of useful info here for me too and much appreciated.
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My 14 year old son is just about a non swimmer due to ear/water issues. Not disabled. However I am not sure swimming is completely necessary. Local sailing school says "water confident". I took my son and his newly purchased buoyancy aid to a local swimming pool until he improved in confidence a bit. I asked the lifeguard and they were ok with my son trying his out to gain confidence.
 
Yellow Ballad said:
Unfortunately he's on the edge of going to a "normal" school and something a bit more specialist. His parents have pulled him out of his autistic school (for some reason), I think he's not getting the needs with the teachers spending a bit more time with the kids that need the help more. Hence me looking into things that might help him as he's in a bit of a pickle at the moment without the routine of school.
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Well - they have my sympathey. Unless you have been through it you cannot possibly understand how hard it can be. The range of conditions under the ASD label are so broad that even specialist schools struggle to manage the range. Any "autism" school will only cover a small range of the spectrum and even then find themselves with a wide range of challenges - most will have small class sizes (typically no more than 6) with a teacher and 1 or 2 TAs to try to keep things on track and even then it is difficult.

That is why people who know about ASD are so cagey about responding to a thread like this.

But dad (and mum) is the expert - it is hard to see how anyone else and improve on sailing with you and dad - at least to start with.

Is he confident in water? If not I would steer clear of dinghies in favour of larger boats.
 
My grandson is autistic and like many with this condition, also ADHD (attention deficit hyperactive disorder). He appears to like sailing though.

Like James W's son, he can become badly upset by the unexpected, specially loud noises, so everything had to be carefully explained beforehand (like the boat tipping). He gets bored easily and then generally then will curl up somewhere and be unresponsive for a while. However he can occasionally get unruly and act riskily. So he does need constant supervision afloat.
 
Topcat47 said:
Contact the Rona Trust, operating as the London Sailing Project out of Universal Shipyard on the Hamble. Google is your friend.

I used to sail with them and they regularly sail with "challenging" teenagers on regular cruises. Notwithstanding that, they also have "special" voyages for more handicapped kids, where they come with chaperones. They have three vessels, Marylynn, Rona 2 and Donald Searle. Marylynn is a custom built Ocean '66 and a normal voyage has a "grown up", qualified, volunteer afterguard consisting of Skipper, mate and two Watch Officers with another two experienced Watchleaders who have been drawn from previous trainees and are aged between 17 and 22. They are also well supported by the City of London and as a consequence, their berth fees are relatively low.
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If you can get to the Hamble these chaps come highly reccomended, my son has sailed with them several times, brother in law is one of their skippers they are a great bunch and can cope with most things. The office is very helpfull if you give them a call
 
As Jungle Jim says,

check out the RYA ' Sailability ' setup, this is a big well funded project.

Our club is big on this, we have two small fleets of adapted trimaran dinghies, a safety boat exactly like a landing craft for wheelchair users to come out on the water, and a very nice Norfolk Oyster for people to come out on - I'm not aware of any spec' as to disabilites, seems all are very welcome.
 
Seajet said:
As Jungle Jim says,

check out the RYA ' Sailability ' setup, this is a big well funded project.

Our club is big on this, we have two small fleets of adapted trimaran dinghies, a safety boat exactly like a landing craft for wheelchair users to come out on the water, and a very nice Norfolk Oyster for people to come out on - I'm not aware of any spec' as to disabilites, seems all are very welcome.
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Just to reiterate the above. Find a handy sailing club that has a Sailability section.

By way of example, https://www.fossc.org.uk/sailability.html - not intended as a plug ;) but the Sailability group is very active, sailing every week through the summer, very inclusive, very enthusiastic and very friendly. On the odd occasion I get to sail with them it's always an absolute pleasure. There's a very wide range of abilities. The club has a small fleet of Hansa single and double-handers that they sail.

Like I said, not meant as a plug, just an example of what you will find at a lot of sailing clubs that support Sailability.
 
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