Swimming is a valuable life skill offering numerous physical, mental, and emotional benefits. However, kids with autism often face unique challenges when learning to swim due to their individual needs and sensory processing differences. One with the Water is a swim school with specialized swimming classes for kids with autism, incorporating ABA therapy techniques to create a supportive and effective learning environment. Applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy is a behavioral intervention that uses positive reinforcement to help people with autism and other developmental disorders learn new skills and improve their behavior. Here are 7 reasons why we feel we offer the best swimming classes for kids with autism.

1. Individualized Swim Instruction

We recognize that every child with autism has unique needs and learning styles. Their experienced instructors use ABA therapy techniques, such as breaking down skills into smaller tasks and using visual supports, to create personalized swimming lessons that are tailored to each child’s abilities and progress.

2. Positive Reinforcement

Our special needs swim classes emphasize positive reinforcement to encourage desired behaviors and promote a positive learning experience. This approach helps to build the child’s confidence and motivation to learn to swim and enjoy swimming.

3. A Structured and Predictable Environment

We create structured and predictable swimming classes for children with autism, which can help to reduce anxiety and promote independence. Our special needs swim classes for kids with autism follow a consistent schedule, and the instructors use visual supports to help children understand the expectations and sequence of the swimming lesson.

4. A System of Least Prompts

Our swimming classes for kids with autism incorporate the system of least prompts, an ABA therapy technique that gradually increases the level of prompting needed to complete a task. This approach helps to reduce anxiety and promote independence in the child, allowing kids with Autism to learn to swim at their own pace.

5. Patience and Flexibility

We recognize that learning to swim can be a challenging and frustrating experience for children with autism. Our professional swim instructors are patient and flexible, adapting their teaching methods to the autistic child’s needs and preferences.

6. Positive Relationship-Building

Our special needs swimming classes focus on building a positive relationship between the swim instructor and the child with autism, which can help to create a supportive and nurturing learning environment. This relationship can also help to encourage the child to engage in the swimming lesson and develop a love for the water.

7. Ongoing Monitoring and Progress Evaluation

We monitor each child’s progress and evaluate their performance regularly, allowing for adjustments to be made to the swim classes as needed. This ensures that the child is making progress and addresses any challenges that may arise during the swimming lessons.

One with the Water offers the best swimming classes kids with autism to learn to swim due to its specialized approach incorporating ABA therapy techniques. Our special needs swimming classes for kids with autism offer individualized instruction, positive reinforcement, a structured environment, and patient swim instructors who create a supportive and effective learning experience for autistic children. By focusing on building a positive relationship and promoting progress, we help kids with autism develop essential swimming skills and gain confidence in the water.

Kenny

Kenny is a baby Bottlenose dolphin, of the genus Tursiops, one of the most common and well-known members of the family Delphinidae, the family of oceanic dolphin. He is very playful and friendly and loves to frequently leap above the water surface. Kenny plays with water toys, enjoys making bubble rings, and plays well with other dolphins or other animals.

The post 7 Reasons Why We Have the Best Swimming Classes for Kids with Autism appeared first on One with the Water.

A student enrolled in the Pasadena, California, Art Center College of Design at the time of the Project Elle, Ms. Tosin was driven by her desire to create functional design and meaningful human experience that changes the way people think, feel, and do.

Project Elle

One with the Water® provided professional participation as a mentor and swimming expert.  Coach Kenneth Rippetoe co-designed a prosthetic leg used as swimwear that would most replicate and assist an amputee while swimming, to overcome a lack of balance, help the swimmer gain stability, and have the same mechanical advantages of a human leg.

The most prominent design challenges to the project, according to Ms. Tosin herself, included compensating for the imbalanced buoyancy created by a missing limb, the multifunctionality needed for launch, swimming, and turning, and finally, ensuring a comfortable, secure fit capable of handling the workload.

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Final Design

The final design featured a support liner and elastic bands sewn into compression fabrics. We created an adjustable air chamber to provide buoyancy for maintaining the streamline position. The “ankle” is flexible to optimize starts and turns, and the device comes with an interchangeable fin, depending on the swimmer’s foot size.

The result? Elle, A game-changing prosthetic device for single-leg below the knee amputees to swim and compete with their peers, now with swimwear available as well.

For more information on the product, check out Della’s website here.

Molly Huggins

Molly is a member of our creative team, mom of four water-loving babies, and a fierce advocate for CPR training and really early swim instruction.

The post Project Elle Revisited: Prosthetic Swimming Leg appeared first on One with the Water.

At One with the Water, we regularly extoll the well-documented health benefits of swimming. Additionally, there are specific benefits for individuals with special needs. Water buoyancy allows previously restricted individuals to move freely and helps build muscle in low muscle tone individuals. Also, self-regulation, speech, oral motor control, strength, and coordination are just a few areas that can improve with therapy in the water.

According to the Disabled Sports USA, swimming not only offers flexibility within the joints and muscles but strengthens the cardiovascular system as well as the major muscle groups in the upper and lower body. And finally, because the heart works harder when the body is submerged, patients benefit from decreased swelling, reduced blood pressure and improved joint position. This, in turn, improves the swimmers’ proprioception or body awareness.

The buoyant nature of water provides persons with CP patients the opportunity to feel their body free from the constraints they experience on land. Source.

Aquatic therapy is an exceptional choice for children with Cerebral Palsy to increase their range of physical function. Besides the physical properties of water itself, a medium well known for its restorative effects, the aforementioned buoyancy makes both aerobic and anaerobic exercise easier to safely accomplish in the water. In fact, one recent study found that the gross motor function of children with Cerebral Palsy aged 5 to 14 years-old substantially improved in as few as six weeks.

Specific Benefits of Aquatic Therapy

Aquatic therapy creates unique opportunities to stretch, move, splash, and swim their way to the following benefits: (There are many). *Source

• Improved physical function
• Wider range of movement
• Reduced stress levels
• Alleviates pain and tension on the joints
• Improved cardiovascular function (as previously mentioned).
• Strengthening of weak muscles
• Reeducation of paralyzed muscles
• Improved balance, coordination and posture

Our special needs focused premium swim lessons use harmony, inclusion, and mastery to ensure your child becomes One with the Water. Register today for lessons with the only Level 5 certified disability coach in the area.

Molly Huggins

Molly is a member of our creative team, mom of four water-loving babies, and a fierce advocate for CPR training and really early swim instruction.

The post Aquatic Therapy for Cerebral Palsy appeared first on One with the Water.

This Giving Tuesday, you have the opportunity to be the neighborhood hero and offer life changing transformation to local kids who need it most. 

The harsh reality is that one in every five drowning deaths occur in children under the age of fourteen, and accidental drowning is the leading cause of death in California between the ages of 1 and 4. Children with special needs have increased drowning risk factors and are statistically more likely to present in low income families, creating a potentially fatal combination of high risk and little to no resources to address the dangers.

Help prevent drowning this Giving Tuesday.

Drowning prevention for members of our most vulnerable populations is literally a matter of life and death. Aside from an increased risk of drowning, children with permanent disabilities who lack consistent therapeutic interventions face increased isolation, increased care requirements, decreased mental health, increased fear and anxiety, and shortened life expectancy.

Swimming provides measurable health and therapeutic benefits for our special needs community, in and out of the water. From better balance and gross motor skills, to improved speech and communication, our athletes are changing their lives by learning to swim. Their risk of accidental drowning plummets by 88%. Being a part of a team reduces isolation and creates positive peer relationships that carry over outside of the pool. And finally, they have the confidence to conquer their fears.

For seven years now, One with the Water has been offering need-based scholarships for premium swimming lessons to children with special needs, service disabled veterans, and low income families in Los Angeles county. Staffed by expert competitive swimmers and former Olympians, we have the only Level 5 Disability certified swim coach in Southern California.

 Be A Local Hero

We know you want to be compassionate, involved members of your community. When you donate to One with the Water, you create real and lasting change in the lives of our adaptive athletes. They are confident, courageous, successful, and safe, thanks to you!

All you need to do is give.

Every dollar you give, whether it’s $10 or $200, goes DIRECTLY to providing swim lessons. Each penny counts, so don’t be intimidated by large amounts. It takes a village, and you are ours.

Communities are changing. Families are changing. Lives are changing. Don’t miss your chance.

Molly Huggins

Molly is a member of our creative team, mom of four water-loving babies, and a fierce advocate for CPR training and really early swim instruction.

The post Be a hero this Giving Tuesday appeared first on One with the Water.

General health benefits for adaptive athletes.

Physical benefits: General overall health improvements from swimming include: low impact for mobility restricted individuals, improved cardiovascular health, improved flexibility and muscle tone, range of movement, and can provide positive assists in meeting therapeutic goals outside the pool.

Psychological benefits: Recent studies have proven that adaptive athletes report a proportionate increase of positive self-identity with increased physical activity. In the first study, designed to counteract the metaphors and descriptors used for athletes with disabilities, there were three overarching themes.

• Don’t treat athletes differently
• Exercise assists in managing emotions
• Physical activity balances others’ negative perceptions

In the second study, explicitly done on swimmers, athletes also reported similar findings.

• A strong self-identity
• A moderate to strong social identity
• Negative affectivity with lower levels of exclusivity
• Strong competitiveness and goal orientation

But why the swim team?

For adaptive athletes, there are specific benefits of joining a swim team, especially athletes with socialization barriers and self or peer-directed exclusion from neuro-typical events. Adaptive athletes who participate in swim teams benefit from the following:

• Better sport-specific coaching.
• More rigorous training.
• More competition in practice.
• Higher expectations than they are likely to receive in other settings.
• More socialization opportunities.
• Greater independence in activities of daily living.
• Improved ability to cope with limitations imposed by disabilities. (Source).

The data is clear on all fronts. Joining a swim team creates a next level positive impact on the pre-existing physical, emotional, and mental benefits derived from swimming. Register today for an opportunity to join our adaptive athletes swim team!

Molly Huggins

Molly is a member of our creative team, mom of four water-loving babies, and a fierce advocate for CPR training and really early swim instruction.

The post Should your adaptive athlete join a swim team? appeared first on One with the Water.

More specifically, multiple studies conducted within the last 20 years provide substantial evidence of the physical and social benefits of swimming for children with ASD. Not only that, a recent study indicated that the risk of drowning for children with autism is 160x greater than the general population. That alone is a compelling argument for teaching children diagnosed with ASD the lifesaving skill of swimming.

Stephanie’s Day

To that end, we are thrilled to be partnering with Stephanie’s Day, 2018!

“Stephanie’s Day is a resource fair that provides families with children impacted by autism and other special needs ONE place to gather valuable information, enjoy fun activities and much more!” – LA TIMES

Stephanie’s Day was founded by Steve Mauldin 19 years ago in order to provide more resources to parents and families of children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. It grew from necessity when his own daughter was diagnosed with Autism around the age of two and he realized how little support was available at the time. Now there are over 50 organizations participating to support local southern California families.

Read Stephanie’s story. 

We’ll be there too, on June 9th from 1-4 at CBS studios (4200 Radford Ave, Studio City CA) with stickers, fun activities for the kids and the chance to win a free swim lesson!

Donate

If you or your child has experienced the transforming power of life-saving swim lessons, consider donating to One with the Water! What we do matters because the evidence is clear. Swimming doesn’t just have the potential to save lives, but to effect lifelong change for good.

Join us by donating to help us provide need based scholarships for high risk, high need children. When you donate to One with the Water, you impact a child’s life on every plane – mentally, physically, and emotionally. For their lifetime.

Molly Huggins

Molly is a member of our creative team, mom of four water-loving babies, and a fierce advocate for CPR training and really early swim instruction.

The post Stephanie’s Day – An Autism Resources Fair appeared first on One with the Water.

But we can’t afford to rest on those numbers. Here’s the bad news.

The Problem

According to the CDC, approximately one in five people who die from drowning are children 14 and younger. For every child who dies from drowning, another five receive emergency care for nonfatal injuries. The rate of near drowning is much higher, as not all near drownings are reported. With its miles of coastlines, multitude of natural freshwater bodies, and an abundance of swimming pools, Californians are at increased risk for drowning and near drowning incidents, with drowning being the leading cause of accidental death for children between the ages of 1 and 4.

Statistics for Los Angeles County: (Available through 2013). For the years 2014-2015, an additional 27 children between the ages of 0-17 died as a result of accidental drowning.

Finally, children with special needs face higher risk of drowning, as well as other barriers to a healthy, fulfilling, more active life.

• Among children with autism, the risk of drowning increases exponentially. “Our analysis reveals that children with autism are 160 times as likely to die from drowning as the general pediatric population. Wandering commonly occurs with autistic children, and because children with autism often have limited social and communication skills, they may seek out bodies of water as a serene place to calm themselves and relieve anxiety. Often with tragic outcomes. Given the exceptionally heightened risk of drowning for children with autism, swimming classes should be the intervention of top priority.” – Dr. Li
• Children and youth with disabilities are at higher risk for experiencing lower levels of social-emotional well-being than their peers without disabilities. They are more likely to be bullied and harassed, have a limited number of friends, and engage in fewer extracurricular activities than their peers.

Drowning prevention for members of our most vulnerable populations is literally a matter of life and death.

Now for the good news. We have a solution, and it’s simple.

The Solution

Lifesaving swim lessons, creating safer, happier, healthier, confident kids. But we can’t do it without you. As your year draws to an end, consider giving to One with the Water as part of your year-end giving plan.  

Finish strong by saving lives. Join us by donating to help provide need based scholarships for high risk, high need children. When you donate to One with the Water, you impact a child’s life on every plane – mentally, physically, and emotionally. For their lifetime. Donate today to provide the lifesaving skill of swimming to those who need it most.

Happy New Year, and thank you. 

Molly Huggins

Molly is a member of our creative team, mom of four water-loving babies, and a fierce advocate for CPR training and really early swim instruction.

The post Giving to Save Lives appeared first on One with the Water.

Three reasons you should donate your dollars, voice, and time.

One: Our heart.  Coach Rippetoe was recently featured in VoyageLA’s Inspiring Stories and he says it best.

© Jaysi | Dreamstime

One with the Water is not just about being a swim school. We are about sharing with others our passion for being in the water and living. The peacefulness we gain from swimming is something that has become greater than a life-or-death matter to us. Swimming is our passion. It is our escape from this world and its over-stimulation. Teaching people about our passion and helping them to achieve this peacefulness is our mission.

Two: It’s not just about swim lessons. One of the things we are most proud of (behind our dedicated, professional staff) is our whole mind-body approach and our use of the growth mindset in encouraging and coaching our swimmers. According to Dr. Dweck, one of the world’s leading researchers in the fields of personality, social psychology, and developmental psychology, people with the Growth Mindset learn to love challenges, be intrigued by mistakes, and intentionally seek out new challenges; They have learned that circumstances and ability matter less and effort matters more. We are committed to our clients, mind, body, and soul.

Three: Lives are changing. I can’t emphasize this enough. Remember, the number one and two barriers to differently abled children participating in sport is the social stigma associated with their conditions plus the cost of participation. But the research is clear. One study (among many) found that when participating in sports, adapted athletes believed they exceeded the expectations associated with their specific disability, specifically by the demonstration of a fit, muscular, and liberated body exhibiting physical skill.

© Mrcmos | Dreamstime

“Participation in this setting is unexpected and emphasizes an alternative representation of a disabled body.”

And the health benefits are well-documented. Swimming provides measurable health and therapeutic benefits for our special needs community in and out of the water. From better balance and gross motor skills, to improved speech and communication, our athletes are changing their lives by learning to swim. Their risk of accidental drowning plummets by 88%. Being a part of a team reduces isolation and creates positive peer relationships that carry over outside of the pool, and they have the confidence to conquer their fears.

Your money matters.

Communities are changing. Families are changing. Lives are changing. Don’t miss your chance.

Donate Today

Your voice, your time, and your dollars matter. Donate today and be a hero in your community.

Molly Huggins

Molly is a member of our creative team, mom of four water-loving babies, and a fierce advocate for CPR training and really early swim instruction.

The post Why Donate to One with the Water? Three Reasons It Matters. appeared first on One with the Water.

Where do you start? What do you do? How can an everyday person effect heroic change in others? So often, just keeping up with a family, home, and career seem to ask more of you than you can give.

But we know the inner call to help others is persistent and won’t go away. And you know deep down there are people needing help who won’t get it if you don’t act.

Something has to be done.

What if you could be the hero in the life of another? What if you could bring life change to people in your community?

It’s possible.

Let me tell you a story about real change happening right here, right now.

Nicole was born healthy. For seven years, she was a normal, happy vivacious girl – until the seizures started. At age seven, she was diagnosed with epilepsy, which spiraled rapidly out of control. Therapy, medication, nothing worked to slow her seizures, which culminated in a seizure that left her with permanent damage on her right side. Nicole was forced to relearn everything – how to walk, how to talk, how to eat and drink. Two years ago, she underwent extensive brain surgery to halt the seizures, but Nicole and her mother and family were left with the aftermath of her worst seizure.

When Nicole started swimming lessons with One with the Water, she rolled onto the pool deck in a wheelchair. Now, she walks onto the pool deck with her mother and brother each day, a huge grin on her face. The benefits of swimming are evident in all her therapies, increasing her strength and mobility at a rapid rate.  She loves the water most though, and for those 30 minutes each time, she works hard, stretching her arms across the lane, stitching uncooperative muscle fiber and wayward neurons back together. For Nicole, swimming has restored her in more ways than one. When you talk to her mother and brother, you can hear it in their voices; you can hear it in their story. Their grief at what once was, their grace for what is, and their hope for what will be. And above all, love and pride for their beautiful, smiling Nicole.

Giving Tuesday

This Giving Tuesday, you have the opportunity to be the neighborhood hero and offer life changing transformation to local kids who need it most. 

Nicole is a member of our Adaptive Athlete swim team.

When our adaptive athletes begin training, expert coaches assess their unique needs and design a custom training plan to build their awareness and confidence in the water. They learn what success looks like, both in competition and in life.

In addition, swimming provides measurable health and therapeutic benefits for our special needs community, in and out of the water. From better balance and gross motor skills, to improved speech and communication, our athletes are changing their lives by learning to swim. Their risk of accidental drowning plummets by 88%. Being a part of a team reduces isolation and creates positive peer relationships that carry over outside of the pool. And finally, they have the confidence to conquer their fears.

Be A Local Hero

We know you want to be compassionate, involved members of your community. When you donate to One with the Water, you create real and lasting change in the lives of our adaptive athletes. They are confident, courageous, successful, and safe, thanks to you!

All you need to do is give.

• $180 a month provides a child access to the life-changing swim team preparing them for high school and college!
• $275 a month teaches a special needs child the lifesaving skill of swimming.

Hear this: Every dollar you give, whether it’s $10 or $200, goes DIRECTLY to providing swim lessons. Each penny counts, so don’t be intimidated by large amounts. It takes a village, and you are ours.

Communities are changing. Families are changing. Lives are changing. Don’t miss your chance.

Molly Huggins

Molly is a member of our creative team, mom of four water-loving babies, and a fierce advocate for CPR training and really early swim instruction.

The post A Giving Tuesday Story appeared first on One with the Water.

Athletes Without Limits USA National Team will be competing at the 2017 INAS Swimming Championship, to be held in Aguascalientes, Mexico from November 27 – December 4, 2017.

INAS- International Federation for Intellectual Impairment Sport was established in 1986 by professionals in the Netherlands who were involved in sport and wanted to promote the participation of athletes with intellectual disabilities.  INAS has a membership of 80 nations and is a member of the International Paralympic Committee.

We’d love to introduce you to few inspirational athletes representing the US and adaptive athletes everywhere!

Athletes Without Limits

Meet Sara.

As soon as the coach yells “go,” 15 swimmers dive into the 6-lane swimming pool at Superior Athletic Club. During this practice drill, Sara Slawta is third in line in lane six. In the water, Slawta, who was diagnosed with brain impairment at a young age, is just like “one of the other kids,” says her swimming coach of 14 years, Siouxha Tokman. Slawta swims in the Elite group at Superior Stingray Swimming, the most competitive level at the club. … Slawta joined Superior Stingray more than a year ago. Since then, she has come in every day for a two-hour practice. “Practice makes perfect,” she says. “I just like swimming, so I come every time and try to be better each time.” – The Mail Tribune 

Sara had her sights set on the INAS swimming championship way back in July, and she is no rookie in competition. She took home nine medals at the 2017 Athletes Without Limits Long Course National Championships AND helped break an American record as part of a 4×100 relay.

This is Jonny Pierce, American record holder and swimmer for the US Paralympic Team. Pierce, who is autistic, has hypersensitive hearing. He discovered as a boy that the pool was a calming refuge. “He loved the water when he was really little,” said his father, Tim. “Before he could swim he would jump in the water and just float. He liked that the water blocked his ears. He would float with his ears under the water. I guess we didn’t know that when he was young … but it blocked out all the sounds that were bothering him. “He would float, cross his legs and cross his arms, with his ears underwater. We’d have to pull him out.” Now 22, Pierce still loves the pool, but he does more than float. He was introduced to swimming by his parents — who both swim at the masters level and coach — at age 7 and participated in youth and high school programs. – From USA Swimming

Now, Johnny works hard in the pool and the gym 5 days a week. His work has paid off with steady improvement and he currently holds 18 American Records for S-14 Paralympics.

And then there is Leslie Cichoki.

Leslie is the highest ranked swimmer with intellectual disability in the US. She holds a number of National and Americas Region records and was the first US swimmer with intellectual impairment selected for the Rio 2016 US Paralympic team.

In competition, Leslie is both calm and powerful. At one of her first Paralympic meets she was the only female swimmer in the entire meet to complete a 200 Butterfly, earning her huge props from her teammates and the Paralympic swim community. Leslie has been swimming since she was four years old. When she is not in the pool — which is rare these days — Leslie also enjoys putting her athleticism to work playing other sports and encouraging fellow Athletes Without Limits throughout the US on Facebook. –  Athletes without Limits

Stay tuned this week as we highlight some more of these inspirational athletes who dream big, work hard, and bulldoze the obstacles in their path. A universal lesson for us all.

Donate Today

At One with the Water, we work with swimmers just like the ones mentioned here. In fact, one of our own is on the team. Help us support adaptive athletes by donating today. You inspire us with your commitment to their success.

Molly Huggins

Molly is a member of our creative team, mom of four water-loving babies, and a fierce advocate for CPR training and really early swim instruction.

The post Athletes Without Limits: USA National Swimming appeared first on One with the Water.