Autism Swim

Prepared by Cathryn Grant

Cathryn is a registered Occupational Therapist and ACAA Accredited Access Consultant. She has been working as a Access Consultant since 2007. Prior to this she worked with people with a diverse range of disabilities in community and rehabilitation settings. Cathryn has recently completed a Masters in Public Health, specialising in health and the built environment. This involved researching and writing a thesis on universal design and consultation with users.

Autism Swim is an international social enterprise specializing in wandering and drowning prevention for those with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and other abilities. Statistics on the Autism Swim website state that children with ASD are 160 times more likely to drown than a child without.

The CEO and founder, Erika Gleeson, a Senior Behavioural Specialist and Skill Development Specialist in Autism Spectrum Disorder. Autism Swim offer certification packages (training, resources and support) for Swimming Instructors, Occupational Therapists, Exercise physiologists and other aquatic professionals, through which you can become Autism Swim approved. The training and other certification inclusions aim to help swimming instructors to understand and develop skills to be better equipped to teach children with ASD and other abilities.

There is also a range of resources available for purchase for parents on all things Wandering and Drowning Prevention. Parents can also access Autism Swim staff, including Aquatic Occupational Therapists, for advice and support. Additionally, they run a range of programs including surf awareness and modified nippers.

A map on the website indicates the location of Autism Swim Approved providers. Each state of Australia, except Tasmania and Northern Territory, have a listed Autism Swim approved provider. Notably the Victorian State Government has partnered with Autism Swim to give 400 scholarships at a significantly reduced rate for Aquatic Therapists and Swim Instructors to complete the Autism Swim training program.

In December 2019 Autism Swim released a free app that is an interactive social story that can be used to educate those with ASD/other abilities about water safety and about how to respond to certain situations they may face around water. The app currently focuses on swimming pool safety however they hope to broaden this to lakes, beaches etc. It is currently only available to download onto an iPad.

With regards to the built environment, Autism Swim suggested that it can be useful if there is a break-out area if the swimmer becomes overwhelmed, also acoustic considerations to dampen noise in pool environments.

For a relatively new enterprise (established in 2016) they appear to be making the headlines with an extensive collection of media coverage listed on the website and operations in 13 countries.

Congratulations to Erika and her team for taking on this issue and supporting parents and aquatic professionals in supporting children with ASD and other abilities, with any hope reducing the shocking statistics.

Visit the website: autismswim.com.au/about-us

This web article provides background on drowning statistics relating to children with autism: www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-03/cums-iwa031617.php