My Part Penguin Son

When you have a child with autism, sometimes the thing you want most is for him to just be a kid and have fun like any other kid. 

It doesn’t often turn out that way. 

My son doesn’t go to summer camp or play in Little League, in part because he doesn’t have the social skills or motor coordination to do so. Instead, much of his days are filled with summer school and therapies.

But going to a swimming pool or beach? Now that is something that Kai enjoys as much as any kid.

Just add water

There is something about water and kids with autism. Kai, like a lot of kids on the autism spectrum, is almost a different child when he is in water.

Many kids with autism have sensitive sensory systems. Everyone is different but, in my son’s case, he loves the feel of things pressed against his body. When he was younger, his preferred activities in occupational therapy included immersing himself in a tub of beans or jumping into a ball pit. His therapist explained that the tactile sensations helped to activate the senses that other kids naturally felt. 

At school, when Kai begins to get discomfited, the staff will sometimes have him wear a weighted vest. The pressure against his body seems to help him calm down. 

At home, we’ve found that he seems to do a better job of staying focused on his homework when he’s enveloped by a giant bean bag than when he is sitting at a standard desk and chair. He often crashes onto a giant mattress that we got just for his sensory needs. He craves big bear hugs and deep pressure squeezes of his head, and he loves having his back scratched at bedtime and after he wakes up in the morning.

But perhaps his favorite sensory-related activity is going to the pool or beach. Whether it’s a swimming pool or Lake Michigan, the water is more than a place where he can splash around and be silly; Kai craves the feel of the water against his body. 

And at a beach, besides the water, the feel of the sand is just as soothing for my son. While I’ve always hated getting sand all over my body, my son likes nothing better than lying down and getting buried. 

Our local favorites

While we will travel far to go to a good beach, it’s nice to have one right here in town.  is our spot when we want to hit the sand quickly. It's peaceful, secluded setting off Sheridan Road gives it the feel of a true hidden gem. It has never been excessively crowded whenever we have gone there.

Our first trip this year was in April, on the first warm day of the year. The air temperature was in the 80s, but the water temperature felt like it was about 33 degrees.

It was then that I discovered that my son is part penguin. 

While my wife and I couldn’t stand the near-freezing temperature of the water, Kai was constantly going in and splashing around. I really don’t know if the water did not feel cold to him or if the waves just felt so good that he endured the chilliness. Either way, I would not be surprised if I learned that his autism contributes to his enjoyment of the icy cold water.

Now that summer has arrived, the water in Lake Michigan is a little more tolerable for us non-penguins. And Kai is no less eager to jump right in.

Besides the beach, we’ve also experienced the joys of two of our community’s pools.

The Hidden Creek AquaPark run by the Park District of Highland Park is a popular summer spot. Its large, zero-depth pool, water playground, and sand area make it ideal for families with young children. We have been going there for a few summers now, and though Kai has nearly outgrown these areas for smaller kids, we can still spend an entire afternoon there splashing around.

More recently, we discovered the wonderful heated pool at the Lillian L. Lutz Recreation Center run by the Jewish Council for Youth Services. Over on Half Day Road, The Lil’ features a T-shaped pool with two shallow ends, which is perfect for Kai’s current level where he wants to do more than just wade in the shallow water but is not quite confident enough to swim very long in the deeper water. Plus with kickboards and water toys aplenty, Kai is always entertained. 

What we like best is that it is very family friendly. We’ve felt relaxed whenever we’ve gone there, which is an unusual feeling for us.

So we try to get to these places as often as we can. Because when he is there, Kai is like any other kid, having a carefree good time. And isn’t that what summer is all about?