Water Safety for Children With Autism
Protecting our most vulnerable children with clear boundaries, consistent routines, and realistic strategies
You are an incredible parent who is doing so much for your child.
I realize how overwhelming caring for a child with autism can feel. Between therapy appointments, offering support at home, and advocating in the classroom, you've got a lot on your mind.
Water Safety With Miss Dayna is committed to making it as easy as possible to keep your child safe in and around water.
Neurodivergent children are often drawn to water as it shimmers, reflects, and makes soothing sounds. But when they find themselves unexpectedly IN the water, it's a recipe for danger.
It’s a heartbreaking reality that children with autism are at a higher risk of water-related tragedies. And as a parent, you deserve more than scary statistics and hollow advice.
You deserve active strategies that teach impulse control to keep kids from wandering to water and empower you to prevent drowning.
Dive Into the Watch-Wait-Swim Water Safety Method
You're likely already CPR certified, but this is a vital safety precaution if you are not. Our number one goal is to prevent drowning before a child ever enters the water, but CPR is still a crucial skill in the unfortunate event that a child does have a dangerous water encounter.
Even more than their neurotypical peers, children with autism benefit from clear boundaries, consistent routines, and visual cues. Our Waiting Whales Water Safety Kit offers tangible tools with fun, engaging characters so that you can help your child learn never to enter any water without you.
Even more than their neurotypical peers, children with autism benefit from clear boundaries, consistent routines, and visual cues. Our Waiting Whales Water Safety Kit offers tangible tools with fun, engaging characters so that you can help your child learn never to enter any water without you.
Find time for self-care when water isn't part of the equation so you can put down your phone, book, or other distractions and fully focus on your child when water is nearby.
There's a lot of confusion, guilt, and fear-mongering about personal flotation devices (PFDs). Here's the important part: life jackets are a must in and around uncontrolled water (oceans, lakes, and rivers). In a controlled water environment like a pool, the decision is much more complex. This blog post offers more guidance for guilt-free and safer PFD use.
Beyond watching your child in the water, give yourself the comfort of extra layers of protection by installing proper barricades and barriers. The tragic truth is that nearly 70% of childhood drownings involving kids under five happen during non-swim times. Proper gates, locks, and alarms slow down fast-moving kids and alert you to their whereabouts.
The allure of water can be tempting for children with autism, and they are more likely to wander than their neurotypical peers. Installing barricades and making it a habit to check and secure all water access points every time you leave the bathroom, pool, or other water environment is crucial.
Kids with autism need to learn the same foundational lifesaving skills as other children, but they often need a different approach. Enroll your child in lessons with an experienced, AutismSwim certified instructor when possible. If you can't access lessons, you can still expose your child to water and practice the most important skill: "Where there is water, I will wait!”
Meet Wilson!
Wilson and his Waiting Whale siblings love the water! A curious three-year-old with autism, Wilson is always on the move, so his Waiting Whale mat is a helpful reminder to stay out of the water until a parent invites him in.
Make Water Safety Fun with a Wilson Water Safety Kit!
How a Little Boy Name Jackson Propelled a Water Safety Movement
In 2019, Jackson, a then-four-year-old student with autism and a tendency to wander, enrolled in my class. I realized I needed to do more than tell him to "wait"; I needed to add another tool to support him.
I started putting a blue swim kickboard by the side of the pool as his waiting spot to give him a visual cue. Over time, this single tool changed everything. Now, he is a thriving elementary schooler who knows how to swim and, more importantly, how to wait.
Jackson inspired me to start using waiting mats for all my students and eventually to create the Waiting Whales Water Safety Kit to help families reinforce safe routines around water anywhere.
“Before I met Miss Dayna, my biggest fear for my son, 4 years old at the time, was water safety. He had an affinity for water that led to a lot of chasing to keep him out of ponds and pools fully clothed! We started with Dayna’s swim program in 2019. When we first started swim lessons, there were lots of tears, lots of jumping in the pool when he was not supposed to, and lots of running away. Dayna understood that teaching and reinforcing behaviors for children on the spectrum was different, and she had to deploy different mechanisms. One mechanism she used was a waiting pad on the side of the pool for Jackson to have a visual representation of where he was supposed to sit and wait for his turn in the pool. Now at 9 years old, not only can he independently swim in the water, but he understands to wait before hopping in the pool. I am so thankful to have had her in our lives to teach him such important safety skills.”
—Ariel S. Dooley MSN, RN, NPD-BC
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Life is busy, but water safety is too important to forget about.
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