When our son was seven and about to attend summer day camp for the first time, my wife asked the camp director if the pool he?d be going to every afternoon was safe. The answer was yes, which was when my wife began to worry. She understood what the camp director didn?t seem to. A pool?any body of water, for that matter?is an inherently unsafe place; especially for a child like ours who is on the autism spectrum.
Drowning is the most common form of fatal injury for children on the spectrum. And children with autism are twice as likely to drown as their neuro-typical peers. Parents of kids on the spectrum can make pool time significantly safer, by following these simple rules and suggestions:
Take classes. ?The best advice I would give any parent is enroll your child in swimming lessons,? says Christina Neumann, Aquatics Co-Ordinator at Toronto?s Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital. Neumann recently helped design a program to meet the needs of children with disabilities, including those on the spectrum, in which special tools, like Picture Exchange Communication boards (waterproof PECs), make learning easier for kids with autism, who are typically visual learners. If your child doesn?t have access to an adapted program, just make sure her coach takes extra care to break swimming skills down into small steps. Generalize. Consistency is essential whenever you?re instructing children on the spectrum in foundational swimming skills. Still, Neumann also advises changing...