Peer-reviewed article
Parent Perspectives on Water Safety for Children with Autism
Barbara D Cosart, Karla A. Lawson, Stewart R Williams, Kayla Elisabeth Lewis, Rashidah Namutebi et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001Drowning is the leading cause of death among children with autism up to age 14. This study explored how parents of autistic children experience water safety through six focus groups and one interview. Parents identified major challenges including difficulty accessing swimming lessons tailored to autistic children, barriers like cost and scheduling, and lack of instructor training in working with children with autism. The research highlights that water safety information and adaptive swimming programs need to be more accessible and better resourced for this vulnerable population.
Key points
- Drowning is the leading cause of death among children with autism through age 14
- Autism characteristics such as wandering, sensory issues, impulsivity, and limited sense of danger increase water safety risk
- Parents report difficulty finding and accessing water safety information and swimming lessons adapted for children with autism
- Autistic children have unique swimming lesson needs and often struggle to participate in structured group activities
- Swimming instructor preparedness and training in teaching children with complex needs is identified as key to success
Limitations
This is a qualitative study based on parent perspectives only and does not measure actual drowning rates, intervention effectiveness, or outcomes for children. The findings reflect experiences of parents who participated in focus groups and may not be generalizable to all families of children with autism.
Abstract
Among children with autism, drowning is the leading cause of death through 14 years old. Attributes such as wandering, sensory issues, impulsivity, and a limited sense of danger could increase risk. In addition, autistic children often have trouble participating in structured group activities like swimming lessons. The purpose of this study is to better understand water safety experiences of parents of children with autism. Parents of autistic children were asked to participate in a focus group about their family's water safety experiences. Six focus groups and one interview were held. Six major themes were identified from transcripts that were common among participants: autism characteristics influence water safety risk; water safety fears influence family life; it is difficult to find and access water safety and swimming lesson information for children with autism; autism characteristics affect participation in swimming lessons and other aquatic activities; autistic children have unique swimming lesson needs; and instructor preparedness is key to swimming lesson success for autistic children. Water safety needs to be elevated in importance for families of autistic children. Information on drowning risk and prevention should be made more accessible. Barriers to adaptive swimming lessons such as cost, scheduling, and availability need to be addressed. More training opportunities need to be provided to swimming instructors to improve teaching children with complex needs, such as those with autism.