Bridgwater woman achieves dream of becoming swimming teacher

An autistic woman has achieved her dream of becoming a swimming teacher despite facing obstacles.

Emily Gold enrolled on a level one swimming assistant qualification at a leisure centre in Bridgwater, Somerset, but struggled to finish the course because she sometimes finds speech and language difficult.

Discovery – a charity that supports autistic people and people with learning disabilities – approached 1610 Trinity Sports and Leisure Centre which agreed to employ Ms Gold as a trainee teacher while she learned how to do the role. She achieved her qualification in August and now works there full-time.

“I wanted to be a swimming instructor because it was going to be very interesting,” she said.

According to the National Autistic Society, autism is a form of lifelong neurodivergence and disability that affects how people experience and interact with the world.

It is a spectrum, meaning it includes a wide range of traits or characteristics which vary from person to person.

For Emily, it means she sometimes struggles with speech and language and wanted to work on improving her communication skills.

To achieve the qualification, Ms Gold underwent two placements and completed training in the water and at the poolside.

This included leading swimming demonstrations, physically supporting children in the water and encouraging them verbally.

Ms Gold said the children “always” like to work with her and she finds it “enjoyable” too.

Jenny Hughes, a swimming coordinator at the centre, was one of the people who helped Ms Gold into her role.

“She’s really good at listening and will support children in the water,” Ms Hughes said.

“She’s had a variety of teachers rather than just one, so it gives her all the experience and different types of learning,” she added.

Kirsteen Middleton, from Discovery, said the charity strived to get people into paid and “sustainable” employment.

“When Emily was doing her training she had to complete a theory exam and we needed to break this down and use less jargon, so that she was able to pass it,” she added.

“That is always our aim and we have succeeded with Emily, so we’re really happy about that.”