The Benevolent Society’s Disability Services – Far North Coast team is smiling from ear to ear as its free 10-week Inclusive Swimming & Water Safety Trial Program comes to an end this week.

The program was designed by a team of therapists at The Benevolent Society to increase the water safety skills of people with a disability who are unable to access mainstream swimming lessons. 

Run in conjunction with Lismore City Council, 20 participants signed up for the lessons at the Goonellabah Sports & Aquatic Centre (GSAC), and 15 have finished the program with some amazing results.

The aim of the program was to increase water confidence and teach essential water survival skills, which is vital given research shows that children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are three times more likely to drown than children without ASD.  

There were two GSAC Swimming Teachers and one Benevolent staff member in the water during the lessons. Each participant required a support person to be in the pool to assist them with activities or, depending on their ability, is able to get in the water quickly.    

Nicole Gallpen is a Team Leader and Clinical Supervisor at The Benevolent Society, who helped develop the pilot program. Nicole, who worked as a swimming instructor whilst studying at university, was inspired to create the program after seeing the challenges her five-year-old son, George, faced. 

George, who is Selectively Mute and is currently going through an autism diagnosis process, found mainstream swim lessons overwhelming and struggled with the noise.  

"My son is autistic and has had trouble engaging in mainstream swim lessons, not due to any physical capacity; he can actually swim quite well, but in the group environment, the lights, the noise, the colours, all the sensory stuff that is around the pool, meant that when we walked into the pool, he was so overwhelmed that he just couldn't bring himself to be a part of a group.

"His disability means that he really struggles to be verbal in social situations. So, in a group of mainstream peers, it was really overwhelming.

"I wanted to create a programme that wasn't exclusionary in terms of private, one-to-one because our goal for him is to be able to be part of a group and have that social connection that everyone else experiences going to a swimming lesson. So, the group is designed to sit in that gap where it's not one-to-one, but it's not mainstream. It's a group environment for like-minded peers. The environment is sensory-friendly, so the lights are dimmed. It's a quiet time at the pool.

"It's a program that is lower in expectations. Children or people with disabilities often have trouble following lots of instructions or lots of demands. So, it's a lower-demand environment that enables increased participation."

The program was for all ages, in this instance from 3 to adult. The results were extremely positive as participants could save themselves if they fell into a pool.

"I think the biggest outcomes going in was largely focused on water safety," Nicole explained, "And I said going in if children or anyone that attends the program can learn, that if they fall in the water, they reach to the side and climb out and that's the only outcome we achieve, I think that was a success because people experiencing disabilities are 170% more likely to drown in our waterways in Australia. That's a horrifying statistic when that demographic is largely unable to access water safety and learn to swim lessons.

"We have had amazing success from people that, on the first lesson, were a staunch no, I'm not getting in the water, absolutely not, you can't make me, to now treading water in the deep end of the big pool for over a minute. Our adult participant actually has learnt to swim. He can swim a lap of the 25-metre pool with his eyes in.

"But I think the most heartwarming outcomes have been the social connection. We had a little boy last week who can't physically write; his disability means he can't actually hold a pen; he had typed out a letter on the computer and got his mom to print it out for another peer in the swimming that says, 'I love swimming with you'. One girl who was enrolled in the program was really largely about social connection. She's been really struggling with being in a group with other peers. She gave everyone a high-five last week. So, it's those kinds of connections and the joy of wanting to be in the water together."

For Nicole, the rewards are deep.

"It's lovely. The program was designed so that there are three teachers in the water. I wasn't meant to be there every week, but I've gone every week because it just fills your cup. It just makes you feel really happy to see their happiness and joy when they come through the doors, especially after week one, when there were quite a few that were really apprehensive about getting in the water."

The success of this trial has led to an NDIS-funded program in term four.

"In conjunction with Lismore City Council and GSAC, we are in discussions of continuing it in term four as an NDIS-funded program because it is designed by therapists. So, it's not swimming lessons; it will be a therapy-based program ongoing.

"Part of the program that we've designed actually starts out of the water. It starts with some sensory stuff that we do out of the water on the deck work before even getting into the pool so that they're calm. We have to meet their sort of sensory needs. So, rather than just racing and jumping in the pool and then that overwhelms them, we start calm.

"There are lots of breaks during the program. We have ones that pop out. We use the iPad for demonstrations as well because it can be a real connection piece. We've had kids that have monster trucks in the pool because that's their special interest. I think, one week, we had 15 monster trucks in the pool with one kid because he wasn't able to separate from them. So, we just incorporated them into the program, and we're able to do that because we don't have the mainstream time frames of the next lesson is about to start, or we've got three other kids where parents are paying to learn to swim and things like that. It's all the same expectations."

If you want your child or you know someone who will benefit from the program, you can contact Nicole via email [email protected], call the Benevolent Society on 1800 236 762 or reach out through their Facebook page.