Sensory Supported Swimming for Children With ASD (SSS)

July 21, 2025 updated by: Lisa Mische Lawson, PhD, University of Kansas Medical Center

Sensory Supported Swimming-Swimming and Water Safety for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

The purpose of Sensory Supported Swimming is to provide a sustainable, low cost recreational swim program for children with ASD. A secondary purpose is to train general recreation providers and swim instructors to meet the unique needs of children. Specific aims include both program development and research aims as described below.

Specific Aims:

1. Provide more opportunities for families of children with ASD to access a recreational swim program at low cost. (program development) 2. Increase the capacity of swim instructors and general recreation providers working with children with ASD. (Research) 3. Increase physical activity for children with ASD in a way that is a good match for their individual sensory needs. (Research) 4. Increase safety among children with ASD in and around the water so they and their families can swim safely. (Research) 5. Transition swimmers with ASD from a learn-to-swim program to an inclusive swim team. (Program Development) Hypotheses

  1. The Sensory Supported Swim Program will increase physical activity of children with ASD.
  2. The Sensory Supported Swim Program will increase safety of children with ASD in and around the water.
  3. The Sensory Supported Swim Program will increase the capacity of general recreation providers and swim instructors to serve children with ASD.

Study Overview

Status

Enrolling by invitation

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

To decrease risk of drowning, increase opportunities to engage in a lifelong sport, and increase the capacity of general recreation providers, investigators developed a recreational swim program for children with ASD. The purpose of this program is to provide swimming and water safety instruction for children with ASD. A secondary purpose is to train general recreation providers and swim instructors to meet the unique needs of children. Research of this program includes investigating the effects of swimming on health outcomes (i.e., fitness, BMI) of children with ASD. SSS lessons are provided in eight week sessions six times per year. Lessons are individualized according to the child's sensory preferences (as measured by the Sensory Profile). Instructors use evidence-based teaching methods (i.e., visual supports, demonstration, peer and video modelling, sensory modifications) to teach swimming and water safety skills. Children may enroll for as many sessions as desired. Research includes retrospective review of program records.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

500

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Kansas
      • Kansas City, Kansas, United States, 66160
        • University of Kansas Medical Center

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

4 years to 18 years (Child, Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Autism diagnosis (any autism spectrum diagnosis)
  • Order of response

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Children with sensory impairments (i.e., blindness, deafness)
  • Based on the discretion of the program directors, participants that display aggressive or harmful behaviors may be excluded for safety purposes

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: SSS Intervention
Sensory Supported Swimming-eight, 30 minute lessons
Behavioral: Sensory Supported Swimming
A swimming and water safety program for children with autism spectrum disorders. Individualized instruction utilizing evidence-based teaching methods and sensory modifications.
Other Names:
  • Sensory Enhanced Aquatics

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Skill Acquisition Form
Time Frame: 8 weeks
This outcome measure was created for the study to measure changes in swimming and water safety skills. The skill acquisition form is supplemented with weekly progress notes.
8 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Instructor Survey
Time Frame: 16 weeks
Instructors are surveyed at least annually to determine if Sensory Supported Swimming is increasing their competence to serve children with autism spectrum disorders
16 weeks
Parent Survey
Time Frame: 16 weeks
Parents of program participants are surveyed at least annually to determine if Sensory Supported Swimming is increasing children's physical activity and safety around water
16 weeks
Program Records
Time Frame: 8 weeks
demographics forms, enrollment & attendance records
8 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Kansas Medical Center

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Lisa Mische Lawson, PhD, University of Kansas Medical Center

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

March 1, 2012

Primary Completion (Estimated)

December 31, 2030

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 31, 2030

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 19, 2016

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 19, 2016

First Posted (Estimated)

April 21, 2016

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

July 23, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 21, 2025

Last Verified

July 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 13124

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

Data is only used my KUMC study team

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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