SwimRVA’s Specialized Autism Swim Lessons

Drowning is one of the primary causes of death in children with autism. This is because many children with autism experience something called “elopement” — or a tendency to wander off. When this happens while unsupervised, this can put them in danger, especially around large bodies of water. At SwimRVA, we can teach your child to swim and prevent this danger with our autism-specific swim lessons.

How Our Swim Lessons Work

Our autism swimming classes are specifically designed for children with autism. We are passionate about providing these children with opportunities for advancement and achievement — even offering the reward of ringing the Bell of Success after graduating to the next station.

Here are some reasons why the structure of our swim classes stands out:

Skill-based learning: A skill-based learning structure in any educational environment works to provide students with a hands-on approach. We translate this to the water, using a seven-station curriculum for children to move through at their own pace. We then pair these water lessons with picture and video storyboards to best help our participants know what to expect. We have found that both of these visual examples are critical in helping children with autism succeed.
One-on-one lessons: Children with autism can have more unique needs than other children their age. SwimRVA understands this and offers one-on-one training. Our personalized approach allows swim instructors to fine-tune lessons to the child’s needs instead of the well-being of the whole group. A private setting also provides a safe and comfortably stimulating environment for children to learn and retain water safety skills and information properly.
ASD-certified coordinators: Dr. Debbie Kelo — a certified USA Swimming’s Children With Challenges initiative member — designed and leads our program. Additionally, all our program coordinators have earned Para-professional course certification through the VCU Autism Center for Excellence, and each of our swimming instructors is trained in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) safety and regulation.

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Why We’re Different

Our program is designed specifically for children with autism. It’s not just a general private lesson with a different label.
We offer visual schedules.
We provide picture and video storyboards to help explain swimming lessons and goals.
We’re proud of our high staff retention, which leads to greater instructor consistency for children taking autism swimming lessons.
Our program is led by Dr. Debbie Kelo, who is certified by USA Swimming’s Children With Challenges initiative.
All of our coordinators have earned Para-professional course certification through the VCU Autism Center for Excellence.
Our program was designed with assistance by the Central Virginia Autism Society, Autism Day Program, Faison School and Chesterfield County Mental Health Group.

Sign Up for Autism Swim Lessons Today!

Is your child ready to get active and gain confidence in the water? Sign up for our autism swimming classes today!

Emily struggles every day to fit in with her classmates. She started taking lessons in the SwimRVA Autism Swims program the week before her school, Jacobs Road Elementary, started coming for their Learn to Swim program. On the first day of Learn-to-Swim (LTS), Emily was confident enough to get in the pool with her peers and was successful in a group setting. The following week, Emily passed Station 1. Mom said if it weren't for SwimRVA Autism Swims, which Emily is excited to attend each week, she wouldn't have been successful in the LTS program. When asked what her favorite day of the week is, she said, "Swimming Day." Which now because of our Learn to Swim program, happens twice for this exceptional young lady.