Today we’re going to tackle a heavy but necessary topic: water safety. For kids under the age of five, drowning is the leading cause of unintentional death. But for kids with autism, they are 160 times more likely to drown than their typically developing peers. The gap between those numbers is huge, and that’s one of the reasons I wanted to talk with Tenaya Goldsmith from Big Kahuna Swim. Tenaya teaches special needs swimming to children of all ages and abilities, and she’s sharing with me the 8 essential water safety skills that every child needs to learn.
I know that when kids with autism go missing from home or schools, they are often drawn to water. This fascination with water could be deadly if they lack basic water safety skills. Simply avoiding swimming pools and oceans won’t solve this problem because children can drown in hot tubs, baby pools, or even bathtubs.
Tenaya teaches children from a very young age the 8 basic water safety skills that can prevent drowning. Floaties and life jackets can give parents an illusion of safety because they think that if their child can float, they won’t drown. These 8 water safety skills are essential to keep children safe in water, no matter how deep or shallow it is.
Tenaya shares some tips for teaching water safety with me, and how she addresses the challenge of teaching children who are afraid of the water. If you’d like to learn from Teyana, you can sign up for her virtual swimming course, which instructs parents on key techniques that will keep their children safe and turn them into confident swimmers.
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