CARMEL, Ind. – An organization in Carmel hopes to save the lives of autistic children by teaching them to swim.
The Applied Behavior Center for Autism planned to give free swim lessons to 25 children this summer, but requests for those lessons have increased over the past few days.
On Friday Shalom Lawson, a non-verbal autistic child, went missing. Police later said he drowned in a retention pond.
Since Lawson’s drowning, more than 100 requests have come in for swim lessons.
“We don’t have many children with Autism who have a fear of water, it’s the exact opposite,” said Jane Grimes of Applied Behavior Center for Autism. “They are just as drawn to water. Whether it’s a pool, a lake or a retention pond – it’s just scary. Everything happened this weekend really brought our community together.”
Those interested in the child swim lessons can get more information here.
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