Opening up water safety for people on the Autism Spectrum

Royal Life Saving Society - Australia

For people on the autism spectrum, filtering through the noise, light and stimulation of the everyday world can be daunting.

The typical environment for swimming classes can often lead to sensory overload - all the chatter and noise, the heat from the indoor pool area, arms and legs bumping into each other, the turn taking, the downtime between turns, the militaryprecision of the timing in and out as the half hour clicks over.

However learning to swim is even more critical for children on the autism spectrum, who are three times more likely to drown than those who are not.

Even that may be an under-estimate; many children aren’t diagnosed with autism until they reach school, so we simply don’t know how many children in that under five age group who drown had undiagnosed autism.

To help make learning to swim a more enjoyable experience for people on the autism spectrum and their families, Royal Life Saving Society - Australia, in partnership with Autism Spectrum Australia (Aspect), developed a new online module for swim teachers.

Shaun Jackson, National ManagerTraining and Workforce Development at Royal Life Saving said the research showed that lack of swimming skills contributes to the higher-than-average drowning rates.

“We know that many children on the autism spectrum, and their parents or carers, have had a bad experience as they start out on their learn to swim journey –and that this means many have stopped before they really got started,” Mr Jackson said.

“With this online module we wanted to develop an easily accessible learning resource that will give swim teachers a good understanding of autism, considerations in a learn to swim context, and some simple but specialised strategies and techniques to ensure participants enjoy their lessons and develop those critical swimming and water safety skills.”

Throughout the module there are interviews with children on the spectrum that are learning to swim, their parents or carers and their swim teachers.

Along with regular video interviews learners discover that the module has a very visual focus using footage of swim lessons in action and a range of screen designs, interactions, animations, reflection tools and knowledge checks to maximise engagement and learning.

It is designed to give swim teachers that are starting out in this area of specialised teaching, or those with experience looking to test and update their knowledge and skills, the ability to move forward with confidence and clarity and deliver highly effective and enjoyable lessons.

No two people on the spectrum are the same and they will display different combinations of the different characteristics. The module encourages swim teachers to get to know the person they’ll be teaching: their likes and dislikes, and any potential triggers which make it more difficult for them to focus on the lesson.

From the outset of the design process, Royal Life Saving chose to use a social model which focuses on strengths and on enabling, and also on reducing the things and barriers that cause distress.

“We know that people on the autism spectrum think, interact, sense, process information and experience their environment differently to what is typical,” Mr Jackson said.

“So it is a matter of finding the individual’s strengths and working with them to find reasonable adjustments.

“An example of how swim teachers can adapt their lessons is to actively plan to use literal, concise language and visual supports.

“Equally, teachers need to be aware that when people on the autism spectrum are overwhelmed they can exhibit challenging behaviours. It’s important to work with families to find strategies that help the individual to manage that feeling of being overwhelmed, which is often very distressing for them.

“Another important element is the hidden curriculum - the set of assumed knowledge that is generally not directly taught because it is considered to be universally known and understood but may not be apparent to people on the spectrum.

“As an example, waiting for their swimming lesson to begin before entering the pool and approaching the teacher is part of the hidden curriculum.

“With the right preparation and awareness, swimming teachers can make it much easier for people on the autism spectrum to navigate the hidden curriculum and enjoy their time in the water.”

Changes to routine, new situations, sensations, people and places can all be highly confronting for a person on the spectrum. So, it is easy to see why swimming lessons can be a distressing experience.

Ensuring that everything about the swimming class is structured to be predictable, with adaptions and changes to normal class programs as necessary, make it much easier for people on the autism spectrum to fully participate in classes.

One of the most common problems experienced by people on the spectrum is the environment of the aquatic centre.

Outdoor facilities can be problematic although indoor environments usually pose even more challenges. This is because they combine all of the outdoor stresses but in an enclosed space which amplifies things such as noise and smell.

Reducing background noise, for example turning off any music, trying to schedule lessons during a quieter part of the day, and working with people one-on-one so there is less waiting time can also be beneficial.

“This online module is all about giving people who are on the autism spectrum the opportunity to experience the sheer joy and health benefits of being in the water, swimming, and giving them the confidence and skills to do so safely.”

TO FIND OUT MORE about the Swim Teaching for Participants on the Autism Spectrum module go to www.royallifesaving.com.au

“Our team is passionate about creating partnerships with organisations that directly and meaningfully improve outcomes for people on Autism Spectrum. Making small changes to the ways we work and think can have a huge impact on the safety and enjoyment of Autistic people when swimming. Royal Life Saving went above and beyond in working together with our Autistic consultants when developing this module, to ensure the content was both respectful and helpful."