ORLANDO, Fla. — Six-year-old Mason is drawn to the water.
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However, his father, Brandon Shaw, knows that Mason’s attraction to water can depend on the day, “With Mason, we can never take our eyes off him in a pool setting,” Brandon explains, “He’s not thinking about the dangers; he’s only thinking about the sensory feeling of ‘I’m in water. Things are calm. Things are soothing. I feel great.’”
Mason was delayed in speech development and was diagnosed with autism around two years old, but has been taking swimming lessons since he was one.
In November alone, three children with autism tragically drowned across Central Florida, all found in bodies of water.
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“Central Florida actually, in the last couple of years, has the leading number of child drownings in the entire state,” says Stacey Hoaglund, President of the Autism Society of Florida. “Children with autism are 160 times more likely to drown.” Stacey works tirelessly to reduce these numbers, as 105 children died from drowning in Florida last year, “In those 105 children last year in Florida... the 4-year-olds to 18-year-olds, 60% of those kids were autistic. And so when we look at our full number of the 105 we’re looking at about 30% had autism.”
After last year’s tragic drownings in Volusia County, Sheriff Mike Chitwood took action, distributing tracking bracelets to five local families with autistic children. Yet, beyond the physical safeguards like bracelets and door alarms, the question remains—why are children with autism so attracted to water?
Stacey says water offers a unique sensory experience, “It’s soothing for people who are very sensory sensitive... So if you’re someone who’s over-sensitive, being underneath the water where everything is muted is fabulous because the world is so noisy and so overwhelming, and it’s so comforting when you’re under it... And for those who have the opposite, when you’re in the water, you feel everything; the pressure of the water on your body gives you a sense of comfort.”
The appeal also lies in the textures, sounds, and visual elements of water. “The way light reflects off the water, how it moves through the pool—it’s a whole sensory experience,” says Stacey.
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For Mason, the water brings joy and comfort but also risk.
“He’s a sensory seeker,” says Brandon, “It allows him to be his happiest, but it also puts him in situations that can be dangerous.”
So for Brandon that means knowing his son’s triggers, “Understanding their body language, understanding their triggers, again, hand flapping, stimming... And so with pools, again, with water, it’s reading the body language, understanding the surroundings... We’re in a situation to help comfort him... Whether it’s the noise canceling headphones, whether it’s letting him put his feet in the water. Trying to meet him halfway.”
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