@A MyAutismTeam Member, have you tried angelfish therapy? If not Autism speaks has a list of groups they have given grants, specifically for water safety /swimming lessons. The list is geographical.

Mentioned Users

A MyAutis...

I just signed up my 4yr old for 1 on 1 lessons at our local YMCA. They paired him with an instructor who has experience teaching kids with autism as well. I'll see how well the private lessons go and consider putting him in with a group at a later point as it is more cost effective. In addition to his learning how to swim, I will also be taking the Red Cross CPR/lifesaving class. This way I am prepared to help my child or someone else in the event of an emergency. I'm in San Diego, so water safety is a big concern of mine as well. Our YMCA charges $22/private lesson and I think the CPR class is $50. I have lived in an area where the fire stations offered lifesaving courses free of charge. Even 'typical' adults can panic in a crisis situation. At this point, I would have done all I can as a parent to protect my child around water and that gives me peace of mind.

We did two things. We have a non profit that matches university students with life guard training with special needs children for one to one lessons. Our YMCA also offers one to one swimming lessons at no extra charge. When he was younger we just couldn't convince him that he couldn't swim and we avoided water or put him in a life jacket st all times.

My son just started his swim lessons and he loves it! Were doing the class together since i wasnt sure the instructor can handle him just yet. Planning to take a couple more classes with him until he gets the hang of it then hopefully he can go on classes without me in the pool. I know its expensive but im researching right now if swim class can qualify as a therapy so my insurance will cover it or at least i can pay it through my health spending account which is deducted from my paycheck pretax. Ill let you know if my plan works, we special needs families need to save money always. :)

I live in WA and we take adaptive swim lessons. He has learned water saftey with a one on one instructor that is supervised by a autism teacher who advises all the swim instructors and oversees the program. In two and a half years of working at it he is now swimming. He still goes to lessons to become a stronger swimmer, but it has helped a lot as he tends to do things like you are describing. He used to jump in fountains when he was small. Any kind of water. So we sought out swim lessons and found this program. Good luck!