Water safety and swimming resources
It’s May and although it’s been pretty darn cold so far here in Indiana, warm weather and summer fun will soon be here. For many that summer fun includes water- like swimming and boating.
For my family it was our home swimming pool. We had a pool long before our son was diagnosed with autism, so his exposure to water started at less than a year old. He LOVED the pool as a young child, so when we got his autism diagnosis, it wasn’t IF we’d teach him water safety and how to swim, it was HOW were we going to teach him.
Every May, which happens to be drowning prevention month, I share a lot of water related information for families on the spectrum to utilize for their loved one. Drowning is the number one cause of death related to children on the spectrum who wander/bolt from their safety of their home. I once had a conversation with a person on the spectrum as to why they were so fascinated by water as a child. Their paraphrased response was “It’s like looking in a mirror. I can see everything in a new and different way.” No wonder children on the spectrum are so motivated to stare into puddles, lakes, rivers and other bodies of water.
So many parents are concerned about their child’s safety, but don’t know where to access the resources to make the situation better. Part of how to access the resources is identifying what resource fits best. We’re going to have a podcast episode up yet this month that talks about swimming. But until then, start by asking yourself the following questions:
How old is my child? If we’re dealing with an older child, lessons may be more difficult because of their size and the safety of both the individual and the instructor. It’s always better to work on these skills when the child is younger.
What goals do I have for him/her at this time? Water safety? Swimming? Overcoming fear of water?
What level of autism have they been diagnosed with?
Do they have the attention span for an inclusive (group) lesson or do they need 1:1 instruction?
Am I willing to work on these skills with them outside of the swim lesson setting? Trust me they don’t improve quickly if you don’t…
Next comes where do I obtain lessons and how do I pay for them? There are a lot of ways to accomplish this, but the right one depends on your particular situation.
Many outpatient therapy clinics offer Aquatic Therapy services that can be covered by insurance, BUT you usually cannot be accessing the same service for different reasons. For example, if you are getting Occupational Therapy already at Provider A and then ask Provider B to provide Aquatic Therapy through an Occupational Therapist, it will probably get denied. Work with each agency and they can usually figure out a way to get it covered IF your insurance has that coverage included in the plan.
Some local school, community and homeowner association pools provide private lessons. This gets tricky because most instructors are not trained on how to provide lessons for those with disabilities. You can get good lessons from them, but knowing the instructor well and providing them the information and resources to help your child is how your going to get good results. Need a good resource to follow for ideas? Follow the All Abilities Aquatics blog https://www.allabilitiesaquatics.com/blog there are a lot of good ideas here for free and yeah, you might recognize the name of the individual that owns the company. FYI, private lessons is how we taught our son to swim. Our instructor was a personal friend and we started lessons when our son was 3 years old. We did lessons all year round. I provided a lot of supports, information and ideas on how to work with him. By the time he was 5, he was able to swim independently and safely. He’s now 19 and competes with the Special Olympics swim team here in Fort Wayne.
You can use your Family Supports Waiver to make this happen- look for a Recreational Therapy company and talk to them about the need for the therapist to be able to achieve the goals you want. This may be a better option if your goals aren’t swimming related, as many Recreational Therapists are not swim instructors, but you would see success if you goals are safety and fear of water related. Don’t know what the Family Supports Waiver is? That’s a different conversation. Contact us at info@myautismally.org or 260-207-4686 and we’ll help you with that.
Ask your local disability agencies for options- especially if they have a pool at their physical location. YMCA’s across the country have either adaptive or inclusive lessons for those with disabilities. In the Fort Wayne area that’s here https://www.fwymca.org/program-registration/adaptive-inclusive . Turnstone is an option, https://turnstone.org/ In Fort Wayne and Indianapolis area, I Can, We Can is also a resource http://icanwecan.org/
Still need help and more ideas? Then contact us here at My Autism Ally. Our resources are free and as parents or caregivers of those on the autism spectrum we get the challenges you are facing because we live them as well. We’d love to help you and your loved one on the spectrum become successful in the water and on land :)