Parent Perspectives on Water Safety for Children with Autism

Among children with autism, drowning is the leading cause of death through 14 years old. Attributes such as wandering, sensory issues, impulsivity, and a limited sense of danger could increase risk. In addition, autistic children often have trouble participating in structured group activities like swimming lessons. The purpose of this study is to better understand water safety experiences of parents of children with autism. Parents of autistic children were asked to participate in a focus group about their family's water safety experiences. Six focus groups and one interview were held. Six major themes were identified from transcripts that were common among participants: autism characteristics influence water safety risk; water safety fears influence family life; it is difficult to find and access water safety and swimming lesson information for children with autism; autism characteristics affect participation in swimming lessons and other aquatic activities; autistic children have unique swimming lesson needs; and instructor preparedness is key to swimming lesson success for autistic children. Water safety needs to be elevated in importance for families of autistic children. Information on drowning risk and prevention should be made more accessible. Barriers to adaptive swimming lessons such as cost, scheduling, and availability need to be addressed. More training opportunities need to be provided to swimming instructors to improve teaching children with complex needs, such as those with autism.