Community Corner
Surfers Healing Cracks the Shell of Autism
A day at the surf camp brings healing for families struggling with autism and awe and respect for the people who started and operate such a great organization.
Being the parent of a child with autism is a challenge in many ways. We are constantly in search of things to crack the shell that keeps our kids cut off from the rest of the world.
My son’s "happy place" is the water, so you would assume that going to the beach would be a blast for our family. Well ... actually, no. The sound of the ocean is more than the sensory processing center in his brain can handle and usually sends him into a meltdown of epic proportions. So we go to pools, Lake Mission Viejo, RSM Beach Club and Baby Beach in Dana Point.
A couple months ago a group of moms with autistic children told me about Surfers Healing, and I signed Franklin up for the day camp. When the day arrived, I was a nervous wreck. In preparation for the day, I had been trying to desensitize his nervous system, so I took him every night down to Aliso Creek Beach and let him play on the play equipment. After the fifth day in a row, he quit plugging his ears and crying; he had gotten used to the roar of the ocean, apparently—a good thing, because the next day was Surfers Healing camp.
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My husband and I headed down to Doheny with Franklin and some of our family friends who have kids with autism. We were all anxious and nervous and had a lot of fear and hope. I watched other kids go out into the ocean and come out more relaxed and aware. I saw some kids really fretting about the water but after much coaxing were able to go into the surf. Different kids came out.
As we were waiting our turn down at the shore, Franklin was getting a little anxious and whiny. The volunteer called our name, ripped him out of my arms and sent him out into the ocean with a surfer, who put him on a long board. He was paddling out within five seconds of being taken from me. Wait—did I really just hand my child off to a stranger who threw him into heavy surfer with another stranger? I heard no crazy meltdown or crying from him. My little 4½-year-old non-verbal autistic son got three 200-yard rides into the shore with Puna, his surfer from Hawaii.
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My baby came out smiling (and cold), and as we sat on the shore watching our friends, he had no more fear of the water and a lot of smiles coming out of him. This day put a large crack in the shell of autism that has encased my child for years now. I was very skeptical going in but walked off that beach amazed by what happened to my kid and my friends' kids that day.
Our 6-year-old friend Jack Wasserman, a Mission Viejo resident who has autism and who up until Surfers Healing wanted to work at Game Stop now is obsessed with surfing and can’t wait to go back to the beach.
Isaiah Paskowitz was diagnosed with autism at age 3. His mother and father, Danielle and Israel Paskowitz, started this day camp for autistic children because of the benefits their son got when Israel, a professional surfer, put Isaiah on the surfboard.
This will be an annual family day for us, and we are going to try and get into the next two camps in San Diego. If you want to see true selflessness, attend a day camp of Surfers Healing and watch the volunteers, who have been able to open these kids up in a way that no amount of money and therapy have been able to. We have been to the beach twice since day camp, and I can say that these surfers really did do something to heal my baby and our family.
