SCEC Aquatics

Students at South Coast Educational Collaborative (SCEC) go swimming! Every SCEC program has the opportunity to swim weekly at an indoor heated pool. Students are transported to a fully-accessible community pool by our fleet of 7D vehicles and drivers. Water safety is the primary goal, and every swim experience is supervised by SCEC staff members who are Red Cross certified lifeguards.

Students swim with their familiar classroom staff, and are often joined by other team members such as adaptive physical education teachers, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, and ABA providers. Each swimming session is tailored to the unique needs of the swimmers using visual schedules, social stories, flotation devices and/or adaptive equipment.

Swimming is an important life skill for children with special needs. Drowning is a leading cause of accidental death among children and is the leading cause of accidental death among children with autism. According to the National Autism Association website, “accidental drowning accounts for 91% of deaths reported in children with ASD who are 14 years old and younger.” These astonishing figures are one of the many reasons SCEC has an aquatics program. The SCEC team believes in working together to enrich our students’ aquatic experience to boost their physical activity level, develop their self-confidence, teach them a critical life skill, and generalize IEP goals all while having fun! The aquatics department is led by an Adaptive Swimming Instructor trained by Swim Angelfish who is certified as a Swim Whisperer®.