Learning Water Skills Can Help Reduce the Danger of Water

It is widely known that drowning is a major concern for children with autism, which sometimes leads parents to avoid water altogether.

Also, if individuals on the spectrum have not developed a level of comfort or the proper skillset to know what to do when confronted with water, this could lead to sensory overload when those encounters occur. Signs of sensory overload can vary for each individual, but typically there are ways to recognize these signs and reduce or prevent sensory overload or “meltdowns”.

It is usually easier for a parent or someone other than the person with autism to recognize these signs and to act on them before it is too late. While children can and should be trained themselves on how to try and recognize these signs and take steps for prevention of sensory overload, this is usually a lifelong process of continual refinement (and hopefully improvement).

This is one of the reasons why it’s so important to have children with autism have experiences in water with trained professionals. If they can develop a comfort level and get practice in the water under proper supervision, then being around water will be that much safer for them in other areas of life.

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