The Importance of Parental Involvement in Swimming Lessons for Person with Disability

Abstract

The Ecolological Theory of Human Development proposed by Urie Bronfenbrenner assumes that the activities and people involved in an evironment are essentialto stimulate the aquisition of new abilities . Analyze thestrategy of parent s presence with their children in aswimming class for PWD during the teaching process.Also, verify the parent s views on this experience and theparticipation of their child during practice. It is a qualitative and action-research. To collect data was utilized observation during to analyse the activities developed in aswimming class for PWD, on the presence of parents withtheir children. A semi-structured interview was used toanalyse the perception parents after the experience of the classroom. Analysis of activities and the interviewwere based on the assumption of Bronfenbrenner (1996).It was found that 100% of the parents rated the positive experience of being with their children in the pool.We found that only 25% of parents reported that hadentered the pool to play with their children. We emphasize that 75% had never entered in the water with theirchildren, whether because of fear, lack of opportunity ornot knowing how to swim. The proposal of parents participation in the swimming class with the PWD generateda favorable environment for development the activities.Parents identified the improvement, the potential anddifficulties of PWD.