Autistic People Love the Water

It’s widely known that autistic people are fascinated by water and are drawn to it. That’s certainly the case with my brother Andy. Whether it’s jumping into the sea from a boat or just splashing around a tiny inflatable pool, he is very happy when he’s in the water. Some experts think it’s because autistic people crave sensory stimuli and water is the ultimate sensory stimulus: visually it’s fascinating when struck by light, it’s soothing to touch, and sounds calming. Through the use of water therapy and swimming lessons, it’s believed that autistic children can enjoy a calming effect and improve their concentration.

Unfortunately, their attraction to water also means that autistic children have a much higher incidence of drowning. In fact, it’s the highest cause of death for autistic children under 14 and accounts for 90% of their deaths. Due to their lack of social awareness or (in many cases) lack of verbal communication skills, accidental death is a major concern for autistic people and explains their alarmingly low life expectancy; one study suggests it’s only 36 years. Studies have shown that about half of autistic children have had at least one incident of elopement (or wandering off) and of these children, about a third have had a ‘close call’ with drowning. Indeed that was the case with Andy when he was only about two years old: he wandered outside and jumped into the deep end of a swimming pool. Luckily, my mom realized he was missing and jumped in to save him.

In researching autistic children and their interaction with water, I found an interesting qualitative study done by the Occupation Therapy Education Department at University of Kansas Medical Center. The team interviewed parents of autistic children to learn about their experience with swimming and interacting with water. Virtually all of them confirm that their children do indeed love the water, and also that they are worried about their safety in the water or that they would wander off to seek water. They see swimming as a meaningful family activity that the whole family can be involved in. And they also emphasized the importance of autistic children taking swimming lessons, both to increase their enjoyment while swimming and more importantly to help prevent accidental drownings.