"It gets SO hot here in
Arkansas during the Summer. I have 3 boys (one on the Autism Spectrum) and I
love to take my children to the neighborhood pool or to the pool at Grandma’s
house. What can I do to keep my kiddos
safe around the water?"
Ahhh! Nothing is better than a relaxing day at the
pool! But with kiddos in tow, don’t be
fooled and let your guard down! While
swimming is excellent exercise and a great way to cool off, it can be a highly
dangerous past time. This is especially true for children with Autism. Accidental
drowning accounted for 91% of deaths of children under 14 years of age with
Autism from 2009-2011. This is largely due to the tendency of children
with Autism to elope (either from randomly wandering off or from actively
running away due to sensory overload).
Children with Autism tend to have very poor safety awareness and may lack an ability to effectively respond to verbal cues. For example, while many children respond when their name is called, this may not be the case for a child with Autism. If an adult does see a child wandering/running toward water, the child may completely ignore the adult calling the child’s name and shouting “Stop!” Most water accidents and drownings are not due to a complete lack of supervision, but rather they are due to a brief lapse in supervision.
Drownings generally do not involve thrashing and shouting as is often depicted on TV. Rather, it is generally a silent event. Therefore, if a child is missing, for even a second, adults should first search the pool before exploring other options.
Children with Autism tend to have very poor safety awareness and may lack an ability to effectively respond to verbal cues. For example, while many children respond when their name is called, this may not be the case for a child with Autism. If an adult does see a child wandering/running toward water, the child may completely ignore the adult calling the child’s name and shouting “Stop!” Most water accidents and drownings are not due to a complete lack of supervision, but rather they are due to a brief lapse in supervision.
Drownings generally do not involve thrashing and shouting as is often depicted on TV. Rather, it is generally a silent event. Therefore, if a child is missing, for even a second, adults should first search the pool before exploring other options.
Now, with these scary
scenarios out of the way, what can YOU do to help keep your children safe?
1. Teach
your child to swim!!!
I can’t
stress this point enough. Teach him to swim
however you can and as early as possible. Being able to swim can save your child’s life. Short of keeping your child locked in a bubble, there is only so much
you can do to keep a child with Autism from getting in the water when you turn your head. As I mentioned the topic of this blog to several of the
parents I work with, they shared many stories of “close calls.” In
fact, 32% of parents of children with Autism report a “close call” with their
child and drowning. Some children with
Autism take like a fish to water and learn to swim immediately. Others are very
hesitant around water. If your child is of the more hesitant type, ask around
for a reputable swim instructor with experience teaching children with Autism
and other Sensory Processing Disorders.
Your child’s Occupational Therapist should be a valuable resource
for this information.
2. Teach pool safety “rules.”
Most children with Autism are very concrete
thinkers. They respond well to rules and
consistency. Therefore, you should
discuss water safety rules with them. I
even like to use “The rule is…” so that it is completely clear that this is a
black and white, non-negotiable issue.
For example: “The rule is, you
must always have an adult present when you are near water.” Depending on the
concrete nature of the child's thinking, you may need to define “near” as an arm’s length
away; “water” as a pool, creek, lake or ocean; and you may need to define “adult” as mom, dad, grandpa, etc. Then, role play and write social stories to
make these rules even more integrated. Adapt the rules to your particular
situation. In addition, a younger child may not understand the term “the rules”
but you can practice to ensure that he/she always holds an adult’s hand when walking on
the concrete around a pool.
3. Practice wearing a life jacket.
Many
children with Autism have tactile defensiveness and this may make wearing a
life jacket difficult. If necessary,
practice baby steps of wearing the life jacket unbuckled in the house while
watching TV, then buckled, then outside, buckled, while blowing bubbles.
You get the idea. If you need further
help, ask your child’s Occupational Therapist for advice. Wearing
a life jacket is non-negotiable!
4. Safety proof the pool.
There are many
things a pool owner can do to keep their pool safe for everyone:
a) Install
a 4 foot tall fence with locking gates around the perimeter of the pool.
b) Make sure that a child could not move
furniture, use a retaining wall, climb a tree, etc. in order to scale the pool
fence.
c) Keep toys out of the pool when the pool is not
in use.
d) If the children will be in the house, install
additional security to the exit doors including hook and eye locks on the door
above the child’s reach and wireless door alarms (found at Wal-mart and
hardware stores).
e) Deter access to the pool/hot tub by removing
ladders and using pool covers.
And as always, use sunblock
and have fun!!!
For more information (as well
as the sources for the statistics listed above), please visit the websites
below:
If you have more ideas on how to keep kids safe around water, I would love to hear them!
