Comments on: Star Swimmer Hayley Williams drowned in school pool

By: Kristina Chew, PhD

Kristina Chew, PhD — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 03:25:21 +0000

A former consultant of ours told us how an autistic kid he had worked with—a great swimmer—had drowned in his own pool. One can trust too much.

By: Kassiane

Kassiane — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 02:25:42 +0000

I can’t understand it either. If it’s a class, swap aides for swimming days. Sheesh.

There are 3 autistic kids I’ve gone swimming with. 2 also have seizures (one easily controlled, one not). Even though all 3 were always within their depth & can swim fairly well, they were NEVER out of 3 stroke’s reach (I’m pretty fast). With neurotypical kids I’d do the same, were I entrusted with their safety in the water. When I coached special olympics swimming, if they were not comfortable with the stroke, I’d go down and back with them, and during their races I walked down the side of “my lane” (I had the ’slow, inexperienced’ lane. One ended up beating a kid who swam varsity for his school on his best stroke. Woo).

Water safety, where has it gone???

By: Kristina Chew, PhD

Kristina Chew, PhD — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 00:46:17 +0000

I can’t understand why Hayley Williams had an aide who did not like to be in the water! Why have her working with a girl who liked to swim that much?

As good a swimmer as Charlie is, he needs to be watched like a hawk.

By: Kassiane

Kassiane — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 00:00:45 +0000

Drowning during a seizure is one of my big fears. I do not go into the water alone because of this. Even baths I keep the door open and notify the roommate, and keep emergency meds in easy reach.

Shame on that aide. She should be charged with negligence IMHO.

By: Jannalou

Jannalou — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 22:08:39 +0000

If you’re afraid of the water, you shouldn’t go to the pool with a child under your care. Period.

I’ll take “my kids” swimming, and we enjoy ourselves in the pool, but we don’t go into deep water because I don’t dive. So if I can’t touch, we don’t go there.

I went to the wading pool with one of the kids when he was totally anti-smaller kids, and we had to leave because he was basically going to drown this other kid. Kept pushing the other kid under the water; kid would get up and the one I was with would push him under again. It happened maybe twice before I got close enough to actually haul him away. The kid’s mother glared at me and said, “He can’t swim.” And I understand the worry and everything, but really, even if the kid could swim that wasn’t going to help him in this instance. He was smaller than the child in my care. And I did the only thing I could do – I apologized and hauled my kid away and we left the pool. And from then on I was right next to him whenever there were other children in the vicinity, because he was into pushing them over (for whatever reason; never did figure that one out).

Of course, the mother of the smaller child was as far away from her child who couldn’t swim as I was from the bully, so neither one of us was where we should have been. (I should’ve been watching out for the safety of other kids, and she should’ve been right next to her child because it’s possible to drown in an inch of water, and he couldn’t swim, so it was more likely anyhow.)