Autism and Accidental Drowning

48% of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), or roughly half of children with ASD, have wandering autism.1 This means that they sometimes walk or run away from safe settings with little or no warning. Combined with their attraction to water, and decreased capacity to comprehend its dangers, this leads to many accidental drowning deaths for children on the spectrum.2

  • Those with mild mental retardation are at least at a three times higher risk of drowning than would be expected in the general population.3

  • In 2009-2011, accidental drowning accounted for 91% (20 out of 22) total U.S. deaths out of all wandering/elopement related fatalities for children with ASD 14 and younger.1

  • Fatal unintentional drownings often occur in aquatic settings close to families’ homes and are on the rise. In 73.9% of drowning incidents, children with ASD under 15 were wandering.4

 

1Mcllwain & Fournier’s paper, "Lethal Outcomes in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) Wandering/Elopement," published in 2012. [link]

2Wandering | National Autism Association. (n.d.). Retrieved April 21, 2020. [link]

3Shavelle, Strauss, and Pickett’s study “Causes of death in Autism,” published in 2001. [link]

4Guan and Li's study “Characteristics of unintentional drowning deaths in children with autism spectrum disorder,” published in December 2017. [link]

 

Saving Lives: One Stroke at a Time

Did you know that drowning is the second most common cause of death for children in America, with the most at risk age group being from 1-4, followed by children ages 5-9?1

Because children with ASD are at even greater risk, it is recommended that they be provided with swimming lessons and water safety training immediately after diagnosis.2 Specialized swim instruction has been proven to reduce the risk of drowning and to increase the aquatic skills of those who participate.

  • In research conducted testing the effectiveness of swimming lessons to prevent drowning in childhood, it was found that participation in formal water instruction reduced risk of drowning for children between the ages of 1 and 4 by 88%.3

    While the results of the other age groups were not statistically significant in this particular study, we believe there are other benefits of safe and guided swimming instruction for children with ASD of all age groups

  • An extensive literature review has also demonstrated that teaching specific aquatic safety techniques provide competencies to protect against drowning. Formal swim instruction is necessary to ensure that all children have these skills and can utilize them in stressful situations, in the event of an accident.4
 

1WHO Drowning Facts Sheet [link]

2Guan and Li's study “Characteristics of unintentional drowning deaths in children with autism spectrum disorder,” published in December 2017. [link]

3Brenner et al.’s study, “Association between swimming lessons and drowning in childhood: A case-control study,” published in March 2009. [link]

4Stallman et al.’s study, “From Swimming Skill to Water Competence: Towards a More Inclusive Drowning Prevention Future,” published in 2017. [link]

 

Addressing Any Concerns: Keeping Our Swimmers Safe

Some people may be concerned that introducing children to water may in fact increase drowning risk. Proponents of this position claim that lessons may make children more comfortable around and excited about water, causing them to take risks and become too confident in their ability to swim.

However, a study for the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center at the University of Washington found that formal water instruction improves the safety skills of young preschoolers. There is no evidence to suggest that water instruction increases risk of drowning (Asher et al., 1995).

Doubts about safety intervention are understandable and necessary, but the overwhelming majority of scholarly research supports that aquatic education prevents life-threatening water accidents.