Waves of Connection: Surfing the Floortime Approach

CRÉDITO DE LA FOTO: Disfrutar El Mar

On this Episode…

Simone Tiemann is a Floortime-trained sensory integration occupational therapist on the north coast of Spain in Santander who sees clients with developmental challenges and differences in her clinic and runs an association for 15 years now called Disfrutar El Mar which means “enjoying the sea” in Spanish that offers activities at the beach and sea, including surfing, where volunteers play with and attend to children using a Floortime approach.

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Disfrutar El Mar

In the beginning, Simone was living on the north coast of Spain and she is a surfer so there was just an idea. Knowing about the experience of being in the water and working as an occupational therapist, she really saw the opportunities in what it means to use the beach and the ocean with the population she works with. 

It started with 3 children to see what happens if they went to the beach. They were different ages and it went surprisingly well. Based on this, the project grew and then they started the association. Over time, it became more professional and organized, Simone shares.

I recalled that at the 2024 International DIR® Conference in New York City, Kim Kredich spoke about a surfing an association working with children with disabilities on the east coast of the United States that was so enjoyable for her autistic son. In addition, the Uniquely Human podcast recently had an episode on surfing with autistic individuals.

A Floortime Approach

Simone always has on Floortime and sensory integration glasses when working with her clients. She realized she needed to transmit this information to the volunteers she works with as well. She trains everyone each summer before they begin the surfing sessions. 

The entire philosophy of the association is based on a lot of ideas from DIRFloortime®, Simone explains. The relationship is really at the center of their work. They have 1:1 attendants at the sessions. They have five to six children in total in each group, and the 1:1 allows them to bring in the individual differences aspect in a very individualized way. 

When Simone gets to the list of children each year, she knows some of them from the clinic or from the previous summer. She interviews the parents to get a profile of each child of their needs, strengths, and interests to get an idea of what they might need from the person who is attending to them. She also has a profile of the volunteers and tries her best to fit them together. 

It’s important when you talk about attunement and connection with the children, especially when you don’t have a lot of experience or time. From the first moment you come together with someone, if it’s easier to attune due to the profile match, that’s ideal, Simone says.

The Surfing Session

The first day is really about getting to know each other, Simone explains, but they never have a goal in their session. Each child can do what they can and want to do each time. They try to get everybody a bit calmer because everybody is nervous. It’s very important that the rhythm of the first day is slow.

Putting on a wet suit is difficult to get on, so that causes its own challenges, Simone continues. Then they get to the beach and try to bring as much calmness to the first day where the child is with their personal instructor rather than operating as a group. They also ask in advance how comfortable the child is at the beach or if they have an aversion to touch. If they do, they’ll provide some proprioceptive input before getting to the beach.

Once the wet suits are on, it can be calming to many children, but the process of putting it on is not so comfortable, Simone shares. They also do a lot of observation on the first day and see how each child responds. They do a circle time as well on the first day and see which children need more silence versus who really enjoys the group singing.

The surfing happens over four sessions in two weeks. They had tried a pilot project that went weekly for three months, but even in the four sessions they do they notice a lot of progress. They usually get to connection on the first day. They might even get some engagement. By the second day, it is going great and the third day is the “wow” day where you see the engagement, attunement, and a group feeling, Simone delights.

Using the Beach to work on Sensory Integration

There’s a lot of stimuli at the beach and you can follow the child’s lead. There’s a lot of proprioceptive possibilities, Simone explains. You can do a lot of movement with the child to work against resistance, you can jump, build things with the sand, push it, then jump over it. You can roll on the sand and sometimes there’s inclinations. At the beach you already have touch, proprioceptive, and vestibular inputs, Simone explains.

In the water, you have the resistance of the water including the proprioceptive input from having the wet suit on as well as from the movement of the water. You have many changes of position in the water. You can just play with the child in the water. They can jump and the surfing has a lot of vestibular input. 

If the waves are pushing the board, you have an intense vestibular input which is difficult to get in a different way. They do it individually, Simone shares, but you can also sit on the board, turn around on the board, or look up or down with the instructor with the board. If you see the board as a tool in the water, you can even make it into a slide. 

There’s a lot of visual stimulation at the beach, as well. There’s a lot of input that you can’t control. Maybe a kite flies by that the child attends to. They can enjoy that together, Simone suggests.

Following the Child’s Lead

You can have very different reactions of the children at the beach, Simone shares. Some kids just race to the water and want to go far in. Others just stay and look at the sand, seaweed, or stones. Some are not used to being at the beach at all, but they have the possibility to explore it. The instructor will watch with them and use affect to join their attention and make play around what the child has just discovered. Sometimes it’s very complex and sometimes it’s very simple, Simone explains.

Who are the volunteers?

The volunteers are a random sample of people, Simone laughs. The diversity of the volunteers is as diverse as the children. You don’t really find a profession. What they all have in common, though, is the intention to be a part of this project and give their time to the families. Some have a background of educators or therapists, but they don’t ask for that. 

When they build up a group, they look for the combination to be as diverse as the children. They must know surfing and can handle children with boards in the water and be able to attune to the children at the beach. If Simone sees that some children come for the first time and have a hard time, they might need a person who feels very secure with this child and has the ability to give the security in that situation. This is the most important thing to her: that the child and instructors feel safe.

At the beginning, Simone found her volunteers through friends, but it grew organically and a friend of a friend and inquired. Santander is not a very big town, so word got around. Every year they begin recruiting in April and they communicate it on their social media, but nearly all of the volunteers knew somebody who was already working with the association. 

Also they will have occupational therapists come from Germany, since Simone is German, and they are registered with the International Surf Therapy Association so sometimes internships come up with other countries, which is usually Germany. They may stay the entire summer and do other work with Simone’s clinic.

So much of the interaction with the children is nonverbal so if there are volunteers from another country they wouldn’t get put with a very verbal child. They have many children who need someone who is very expressive nonverbally, Simone asserts. She really focuses on the fit between instructors and children.

Class Preparations

There are about 35 children in 5 or 6 groups of 5 or 6 children per group but there is only one group at a time as the sessions go throughout the summer. There is more demand than they can handle, Simone explains, but they keep the groups smaller because the needs are very diverse and they need to cover all of the needs in that smaller group. It’s also a matter of logistics due to the changing rooms and all of the sounds. They are in a public space, so they need to keep the stress lower.

They have a lot of collaboration with local surf schools so they get the wet suits from them but some children do have their own. Some of the families try to continue the activity on their own after the sessions finish. They would love to have the children be able to progress to a local surf school or a group that would continue. It depends on the child’s needs and strengths. When they are older, they are looking for a local place where they can go on.

Some parents feel very comfortable in the water while others don’t, so some might need others to provide the service for their children. Simone has provided lessons for parents who want to continue as well. During COVID they had an interesting experience where they attended to a “bubble” where the child came with a parent and siblings. Some families went on from there to continue to meet each other at the beach. 

Many of the parents say it’s incredible how much their children enjoy it and see very positive reactions from it in terms of regulation, attention, and engagement. For the parents who aren’t there for the sessions, they see it in the photos and then feel the regulation affects afterwards, but it’s especially beautiful to see the connection between the parents and children when the parents are there, Simone says.

Some of the kids practice putting the wet suits on in advance–especially the children who can be overly reactive to touch, Simone says. She will talk with the parents how best to prepare the child. In some cases, they try to put it on at home, and in a few cases they will put the wet suit on at home before they come to the class, so they arrive in the wet suit. 

Some children don’t feel the cold as much so they might use the “shorties” instead, which are more comfortable and in some cases a lycra. Lycra is very thin, so they only do this with children who really don’t feel the cold in the water. Simone wouldn’t do that herself as she is always feeling the cold. The wet suit has much more protection and gives a lot more pressure, she explains.

Thank you to Simone for sharing her time with us describing her surfing association in northern Spain. I hope that you enjoyed it and will share it on social media!

Until next time, here’s to choosing play and experiencing joy every day!