For Immediate Release
Contact: Lindsay Corcoran 508-368-7252 or 774-670-8811
WORCESTER – Worcester County District Attorney Joseph D. Early, Jr. recently partnered with the Autism Resource Center to help expand adaptive swim program offerings to more families of neurodivergent children across Worcester County.
The classes include basic swim skills, as well as water safety training. They also include a home safety workshop for parents/caregivers to provide information and resources to protect against elopement.
“We know that children with Autism Spectrum Disorder are 160 times more likely to drown than their peers without adequate water safety instruction,” said Mr. Early. “We want to prevent such tragedies. These swim classes will help children be safe, help give parents some peace of mind, and also allow children to have fun in an environment adapted to their needs.”
The Autism Resource Center first began setting up the Adaptive Swim Program last year with the support of the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism.
“The Swim and Safety Program is truly about prevention and accessibility. Our goal is to provide swim lessons to as many children and young adults with autism as possible,” said Kristen Cariglia, Director of the Autism Resource Center. “By training more Water Safety Instructors across our region to increase the number of adaptive lessons and funding for participants, children are able participate in these potentially lifesaving lessons in close to home. We are beyond thrilled to be partnering with the Worcester County District Attorney’s office. With their support, we are able to make these lessons accessible to double the number of children and train more swim instructors to provide them.”
Through the funding provided by the District Attorney’s Office, the program has been training additional instructors and expanding to new locations across Worcester County. Classes are currently offered at Worcester Fitness, the Worcester JCC, British Swim School of Milford and Orchard Hill Athletic Club in Lancaster. There are plans to add additional classes soon.
“Providing water safety skills to the community is at the forefront of preventing drowning incidents,” said Janine LaPrade, the adaptive swim class instructor at Worcester Fitness. “Many times, accessibility is a substantial roadblock to acquiring these survival techniques. The partnership created by the District Attorney’s office, the Autism Resource center, and swim academy sites of Worcester County will increase the number of trained instructors, the number of sites providing lessons, as well as an increase in families served all in hopes of reducing the tragic accidents that can occur, especially within this population.”
The District Attorney’s office provided $10,000 to help cover the cost of swimming fees and additional staff training needed to expand the adaptive swim program. The prevention program money was funded through the office’s Drug Forfeiture Community Reinvestment Program, which uses money seized from drug crimes to provide funds for community initiatives in Worcester County as a crime prevention and intervention tool.
These swim classes are open to the entire community and registration is free. Contact the Autism Resource Center at www.autismresourcecentral.org/swim for additional information and registration.
