Learning to Swim’s More than Necessary
August 12, 2008 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
Being at the beach, water safety is not just a concern; it’s an every moment necessity. Charlie did a lot more swimming today (more on that later) and I still remember the relief I felt when, at the age of 6, he learned how to swim. This meant that, while still always keeping an eye on him, going to the pool and the beach was a bit (a bit) less nerve-wracking. Back in April, Deanna Muniz’s autistic son, Christopher, got out of the house and drowned. In his memory, Muniz has founded an organization, Christopher Connections, that, among other goals including promoting the important of swimming lessons for autistic children, creates “opportunities for affordable swim lessons for children with ASDs from qualified, certified swim instructors.”
The site notes that drowning is a “leading cause of death for children with autism spectrum disorders” (a study of mortality in autistic adults cites epilepsy as the leading cause of death, while another study mentions drowning along with “seizures and accidents such as suffocation”).
Needless to say—and take this from someone (me) who only learned to swim about five years ago—learning to swim is very much, more than worth it.
I recently blogged about seizures, having had a very bad experience last weekend while hiking across the border in Wisconsin. If my wife were not with me, I don’t know what would happen.
A seizure while swimming? A complete disaster. Of course, with only one fully functional arm, I tend to go in circles anyway in a very bad “dog paddle” effort.
I’m “independent” but also have a lot of anxiety about seizures. This is why I tell parents and students with ASDs that you need emergency plans.
Children are attracted to pools, period. I wish more people fenced pools securely and understood how risky they are. They sell “water alarms” and other devices to detect someone entering the pool. Planning ahead, expecting the worst, is a good idea.
Water Safety
American Academy of Pediatrics
I imagine some of the statistics involve both epilepsy and drowning. I know, for us, the scariest thing is Patrick in a pool because at any moment he could have a seizure. We practice the ‘arms length’ rule unless he has a life jacket on, meaning an adult must be within his reach at all times. The longer he goes without a seizure I imagine we’ll rethink.
I’ve always been afraid of children and pools. Patrick started swim lessons at age 4, with me in the pool with him!
Our son just loves the water- I started doing “Mom and Baby” classes with him when he was 8 months old (he’s about 3.5 now), and as a result, he’s very comfortable around the water. Actually, he’s too comfortable around the water- he’s quite sure that he can swim (he can’t), and will jump off the side of the pool with no hesitancy at all. Even the feeling of going under the water isn’t a deterrent. Well it’s great that he loves the water and swimming so much, his fearlessness is quite terrifying for us as his parents, and therefore we insist that he wear a lifejacket whenever we’re around water, and continue to pursue swimming lessons for him.