May 14, 2014

Dear Parents/Guardian of Tommy:

My name is Stephan Wolford, and I am majoring in Physical Education with a minor in Health at
the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. During this semester I have had the opportunity to work
with Tommy in the pool setting at the university as a part of my Adapted Aquatics class. The
objective of the adapted aquatics class is to give perspective students the opportunity to work
with children/adults with disabilities in the pool setting. I was able to work with Tommy in a one
on one environment with various aquatics equipment to foster swimming stroke and technique
development.
Tommy was a joy to work with this semester. Tommy always had a smile on his face and showed
a positive attitude towards his work in the pool. Currently Tommy has a very good level of water
comfort ability. He is able to hold his breath underwater for up to 20 seconds, and he really
enjoys surface diving. One area where Tommy shows slight difficulties is in remembering to
implement his feet in his water propulsion activities. When Tommy forgets to use his feet, he is
forced to work twice as hard with his arms to remain afloat or move around.
I used various techniques to help Tommy improve on his water propulsion and surface diving
abilities throughout the semester. Tommy seems to be a visual learner, so I used demonstrations
with verbal cues as well as visual aids to help him understand what was expected and how to
perform each activity. We were able to work on the use of his legs in the various strokes and
techniques by using a kickboard. Tommy completed lap swims while both using and not using a
kickboard. We also worked on treading water and many other kicking activities.
Tommys favorite game was treasure hunt. During the game Tommy would retrieve rings and
diving sticks from the bottom of the pool. Tommy was told that he was retrieving treasure from a
shipwreck and returning to his boat with it. During the game Tommy would swim to the pieces
of shipwreck (kickboard), and then surface dive to the treasure below. He would then take each
piece of treasure back to the boat (pool deck). Tommy was able to successfully retrieve all
treasure pieces every time that we played. Given a choice during free time, Tommy would
always choose to play the treasure hunt game.
Tommy and I also played freeze tag and junk pool cleanup during our sessions together. Each
time that we met I used instructional strategies to help develop lessons and activities that were
developed specifically for Tommy. Tommy showed great improvement throughout the semester. I
was able to see the transformations in front of me. He showed a great excitement in reaching the
various goals and task objectives given to him. For example he improved his time while holding
his breath underwater from 5 seconds to 20 seconds. He also showed improvement in the time
and distance covered in both his floating and gliding.

Tommy benefits greatly from encouragement and verbal feedback. He enjoys having goals set
and meeting or exceeding the various goals. If he is encouraged there is no limit to what Tommy
will do in the pool. His one area of need is in improving his kicking during the various
propulsion and swimming techniques. If Tommy can remember to kick, he is much more
successful in completing the goals and objectives. It also goes a long way in keeping him from
over-using his arms and becoming fatigued. I constantly had to remind Tommy to take a break
and get a deep breath, because he would push himself so hard. The other recommendation that I
have is just for Tommy to practice. In the five times that Tommy came to Platteville for
swimming he showed great improvement. If Tommy is given opportunities to practice his
various techniques and strokes, then he will continue to improve and become proficient in the
pool.
Thank you for allowing Tommy to participate in this swimming activity throughout the semester.
I appreciate the invaluable opportunity to gain experience and develop as a future educator. I
hope that this letter helps you in understanding the process and what Tommy was doing
throughout the semester. I would also like to thank Tommy for being such a willing participant
and opening up the way that he did.
Sincerely,

Stephan Wolford