Kids with autism are at better threat of drowning. Swim lessons can assist.

Four-year-old Amir Santana loves water. He jumps in anytime he sees a possibility. And as a result of Amir additionally has autism, his mom, Dimarylee Valentin, has struggled to seek out swim lessons that work for her son to assist hold him protected.

“I wanted to feel comfortable knowing that my kid is understood,” mentioned Valentin, who lives in Lawrence.

In earlier lessons, the instructors weren’t as affected person with Amir as he realized. Finally she discovered Swim Angelfish, which gives swim security lessons and coaching assets tailor-made to children with autism and different disabilities.

On a latest summer season day at an indoor pool in Salem, New Hampshire, Amir was practising holding the aspect of the pool whereas counting to 5, and dunking underneath water. Valentin has already observed an enchancment in just a few months.

“He waits until somebody’s in the water for him to go in. He holds the sides of the pool,” she mentioned.

Many children with autism like Amir are each vulnerable to wandering away and drawn to water. This mixture makes dad and mom like Valentin particularly frightened: Accidental drowning is the main reason behind loss of life for teenagers with autism.

According to the National Autism Association, youngsters with autism are 160 instances as prone to drown than different children. The group encourages first responders to all the time examine close by water first when a baby with autism is lacking.

An 8-year-old boy in Clinton, Mass., drowned in a pond in June after wandering out of his home. In latest years, authorities have gotten extra frightened — 2024 noticed a spike in drownings nationwide.

This summer season, the state launched a public consciousness marketing campaign to coach households and caregivers about hold children — particularly children with disabilities — from drowning.

“The timing of this campaign coming out in June was really great because people are thinking about water more,” mentioned Sarah Peterson, the Department of Developmental Services commissioner. “But this isn’t something that is only an issue during the summer either. There have been tragic stories that we’ve heard in the news all times of year.”

Just this previous January, a 6-year-old woman with nonverbal autism died in Norton, Mass., drowning in an icy pond.

The state’s new safety toolkit highlights suggestions for conserving children protected, together with by inclusive lessons like Swim Angelfish. The aim is to coach not solely households but additionally first responders and neighbors all yr spherical.

“It’s a community responsibility,” Peterson mentioned.

Tragedies across the water

Cindy Freedman, an occupational therapist, began Swim Angelfish 27 years in the past with co-founder Ailene Tisser, a bodily therapist. They developed a curriculum for swim lessons that’s tailor-made to children with sensory or developmental challenges and provide trainings on-line and round New England.

“We have, unfortunately, a lot of tragedies in, near and around water,” Freedman mentioned.

“Sometimes it’s because somebody is bolting away,” she continued. “Sometimes it is because they’re just so highly attracted to the water that it just supersedes safety and being in the water is so satisfying for them.”

She mentioned some children with autism are drawn to the sparkly floor of water. Some could just like the stress of water on their physique as they go deeper, like a weighted blanket. And many are much less prone to have taken common swim lessons.

In Salem, Angelfish teacher Carey Seekell was working with a bunch of children as they practiced leaping into the pool. Even on this small group, one of many dad and mom had already skilled a tragedy: her baby had drowned, and he or she needed to ensure her different daughter can be protected round water.

Seekell says that practising in a pool prepares them for the true world.

“When we have kids go underwater, it’s a way to help them feel what it feels like to have water in their face,” Seekell mentioned. “So if, God forbid, they fell in the pool, they would have that feeling of water on their face and it wouldn’t cause a panic.”

She was serving to 4-year-old Liam, sporting a shark fin floaty on his again, as he swam backwards and forwards. It was an indication of progress, mentioned his mother Jen Shepard.

“He’s made so much progress where he’s not intimidated by it anymore,” mentioned Shepard, from Andover. “He’s putting his face in it. He understands the concept of kicking his legs and scooping his arms and just has a great time with it.“

The kids practiced a routine of holding the side of the pool.

“‘Taking side’ is another safety thing that we do. … If you fall in the pool, if you get tired, go to the side — ‘take side’ — hold on and don’t let go until a parent or the instructor says to let go,” Seekell mentioned.

Many of the youngsters who come to Angelfish had tried earlier swim classes however didn’t make progress, or the instructors weren’t conversant in autism and different disabilities.

Like Allison Kanakis, from Nashua, who was there together with her daughters Charlotte and Eleanor.

“Now they’re, like, obsessed with it,” Kanakis mentioned. “When we were coming here, Charlotte told me this is her favorite activity that she does, ever.”

During the lessons, an enormous focus is on adjusting to discomfort and worry within the water. Kids deal with routine and repetition, studying to roll onto their backs to drift and breathe and get used to securely placing their heads underneath the water. They additionally work on getting comfy with somebody grabbing them whereas they’re within the water in case somebody is making an attempt to rescue them they usually get conversant in a rescue tube and different flotation objects.

Julia, from Lexington, was swimming laps within the pool. She began taking lessons 5 years in the past.

“In the very beginning, she was crying every class. She was really afraid,” mentioned Patricia Raupp, Julia’s mother. “Now she can swim independently without floats, and we can see that she’s safe [in] the pool now.”

Tips for outdoor of the pool

Freedman says that oldsters can begin small with each day practices at house. For instance, at tub time, they’ll encourage their child to get within the routine of all the time asking permission earlier than they get within the bathtub. That approach, if they’re ever round one other physique of water, they may hunt down an grownup earlier than getting into.

She additionally recommends letting children apply with emergency flotation units, like life preservers or rescue tubes, at any time when they’re on the pool or seashore.

“If you’re a parent or a caregiver taking your swimmer who might be highly attracted to the pool, my number-one tip would be [to] familiarize them with a rescue tube,” Freedman mentioned.

Preventing drowning isn’t nearly swim abilities, Commissioner Sarah Peterson mentioned, which is why the general public marketing campaign features a safety checklist, together with suggestions like ensuring doorways, home windows and fences are safe; introducing their baby to native police and firefighters; attending to know neighbors to allow them to spot harmful conditions and safe their very own swimming pools or water sources; contemplating a monitoring machine, and; spending time with different households with children like theirs.

“When I talk to parents, I think that one of the biggest things that you hear is that they feel very alone and that they feel very isolated,” Peterson mentioned. “Offering opportunities for parents to engage with one another is a great way to ensure that parents have the information that they need, but also really feel supported by people who also have lived experience.”