EXPANDING AND EVALUATING OPPORTUNITIES FOR INCLUSION The weather is getting warmer and the summer season is right around the corner. BY ANGIE BAKER HEAD TRAINER SWIMKIDS AQUATICS CENTER
42 | USSWIMSCHOOLS.ORG
As an industry, we are educating parents on water safety and drowning statistics. We are talking more about supervision and barriers. One statistic that we often don’t talk about enough is the high risk of drowning in children with special abilities, and particularly those with Autism. In 2016, the National Autism Society reported that drowning accounted for 91% of the accidental deaths among children with ASD, ages 14 and younger. This increases the risk of death by drowning more than two times that of the general population, making the need to learn to swim, imperative for this population.
