Autistic children drown at alarming rates – swim lessons and water safety strategies can save their lives 

Tana Carson,
Florida International University

During roasting-hot summer days, more and more people make their way to swimming pools, lakes, rivers and other spots where they can access water to stay cool.

But while water activities provide a refreshing escape from the heat, they can also be a source of danger. In the U.S., drowning is a leading cause of accidental death for children. More than 900 children die from accidental drownings each year.

For autistic children, the danger is more acute: Their risk of drowning is up to 160 times higher than that of their peers without autism.

That may be because autistic children are often strongly drawn to water – whether for play or to seek out the sound, feel, sight of water shimmering in the sunlight or the sense of calm experienced in the water. And they can sometimes have greater difficulty finding swimming lessons than their peers.

We are an occupational and recreational therapist team that studies effective approaches for teaching swimming and water safety to autistic children. We also train future therapists on these methods.

Our goal is to equip families, caregivers and therapists with some practical steps to keep autistic children safe around water.

Many autistic children tend to wander, which can lead them away from safe, supervised areas into unprotected, unsupervised settings – and potentially toward hazards like open water. This puts these children at increased risk for drowning, particularly if they do not know how to swim.

Swimming lessons can help reduce drowning risk, but changes to traditional classes may be required in order to meet the unique needs of autistic learners.

Autistic children communicate in a wide variety of ways, ranging from nonspeaking to highly talkative. The environment of a busy pool may trigger sensory overload and distress, causing children to cry or want to leave. Overload can also lead to difficulty following instructors’ directions. They may need extra time and assistance for emotional regulation, or need encouragement and motivation to stay engaged. Some may not want to be touched and prefer visual examples for learning new skills in the water.

For the average swim instructor, who may be teaching up to 10 children at a time and may not have training in supporting autistic children, figuring out how to meet individual needs can be a challenge.

Adaptive swim lessons, which are provided by instructors experienced at meeting autistic children’s unique learning and behavior needs, may better set them up for success. These lessons tend to have fewer participants, or even offer one-on-one instruction, allowing for plenty of individual attention. The instructor may use tools and strategies such as play-based approaches, visual schedules, sensory strategies or a consistent routine to help the child feel comfortable and successful.

Perhaps the most important step you can take is to enroll your child in aquatic instruction that meets their specific learning and sensory needs. This can be anything from traditional group lessons at a community pool to individual lessons with a therapist – and many variations in between.

Research shows that swim lessons that are designed to meet the individual needs of autistic children and offer one-on-one support in a group setting successfully improve their swimming skills.

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