ERIC Number: EJ1490816
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Dec
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1088-3576
EISSN: EISSN-1538-4829
Available Date: 0000-00-00
Effectiveness of a Train-the-Trainer Model to Teach Water Safety Skills to Children with Autism
Young Hee Byun1; Rose E. Nevill1; Elizabeth S. Maquera1; Alan S. McLucas1; Micah O. Mazurek1; William J. Therrien1; Einar T. Ingvarsson2
Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, v40 n4 p208-219 2025
Given the high risk of drowning among children with autism, there is a need for disseminating water safety education into mainstream settings. The current study explored the effectiveness of behavioral skills training (BST) in teaching water safety skills to 3 U.S. children with autism, when implemented by community-based swim instructors with no prior experience in applied behavior analysis (ABA). The program used a train-the-trainer model to teach how to: (a) find the nearest point of safety after jumping into water; (b) roll from front to back; and (c) float on back and yell for help. Participants were three children with autism and four community-based swim instructors. The child participants successfully mastered the skills in three to 24 sessions. The skills were maintained after 3 months and generalized to new settings, instructors, and situations. Results suggest that ABA practitioners can enable community-based swim instructors to teach water safety skills to children with autism.
Descriptors: Child Safety, Safety Education, Water, Autism Spectrum Disorders, At Risk Persons, Program Effectiveness, Community Programs, Training, Teachers, Skill Development
SAGE Publications and Hammill Institute on Disabilities. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub.com
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: UL1TR003015; KL2TR003016
Author Affiliations: 1University of Virginia, Charlottesville, USA; 2Virginia Institute of Autism, Charlottesville, USA

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