Milestones Magazine - Summer 2019

Of all the milestones a person can achieve in their
life; learning to swim is perhaps one of the most
important, for anyone with or without disabilities;
as a person’s very life may depend on it.
I steadfastly maintain that any one who is conscious
most of the time, can’t breathe water, and doesn’t
have health issues that preclude contact with
swimming pools or other bodies of water, should
attain the milestone of learning how to swim. It is a
well-known fact that people who know how to swim
are less likely to drown. And while I don’t have
general statistics on the subject, I do know that for
anyone who has had a loved one drown, that loss is
100%. And that’s the only statistic that matters.
Personally speaking, I “hooked up” with Fox Valley Special Recreation
Association (FVSRA) for private swim lessons for my son when he was 17
(7 years ago). He was always comfortable around water and participated in
Special Olympics swimming during his high school years. My only regret is
that I did not find FVSRA years earlier.
I am including contact information for FVSRA, as that is a program we
have used personally.
Fox Valley Special Recreation Association (FVSRA), Vaughn Center, 2121
West Indian Trail, Aurora IL 60506 630-907-1114. FVSRA now has online
registration, which for any session typically starts about 1 week before
residents receive FVSRA brochures in the mail. Vaughn Center is one of
the swim lesson locations.
USA Swimming Foundation’s Make a Splash program (www.makeasplash.
org) and Autism Speaks (www.autismspeaks.org) are good sources for
information about swim lesson providers. Both organizations partner with
swim lesson providers to advance the cause of water safety through
swim lessons, particularly for especially vulnerable populations such
as children with autism.
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