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.

Drowning dangers for autistic children

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........

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