My autistic son almost drowned today

[ASDmum28]

I need to get it out somewhere, I'm quite shaken up. Do you mind if I offload here? I've NC.

Today we went paddling in the shallow part of a small river where the water was only knee high on the kids and i didnt take my eyes off him for a second. We've been there a handful of times before and never had any issues so I naively thought we'd be fine.

After paddling, when we left the water and I was cleaning DD up, DS made a beeline for the edge of a deeper part and was poking a stick in the water. He he lost his balance and fell in. It happened so quickly.

My friend (a new mum friend who I've only met three times!) was lightning fast and was at the water edge in the blink of an eye. She managed to grab him under the water and pull him back up. I shot over and helped her pull him out and I'll never forget the look on his face as he came up. The terror in his eyes will stay with me for the rest of my life 😥

He can't swim. Hasn't had any lessons. I'm looking into lessons right now as I never want to experience that again.

I'm gutted.

Do you genuinely think OP doesnt know this?

Are you simply on here looking for an argument? Judging by the replies yes!

Considering OP didn't think to take him to water safety or swimming lessons before taking him to a river, I'd hope it would be! And if not, that's not my issue to deal with.
If you don't wish to see other people's advice or opinions maybe a forum isn't for you.

Do all parents enroll their children in swimming lessons before they take them swimming, or to the beach/sea? I'm sure they don't. Should they? Well yes it's a good idea however given that parents tend to accompany their child into the water and stay within arms reach of them .. its not always something that is considered.

He wasn't in danger when he was in the water. There were two adults right there next to him, within 1m of him.

The danger came about afterwards.

What happened to DS could have happened to any family who were just walking by the river on a weekend walk, or on their way to somewhere.

please excuse the underlines I cant remove them for some reason.

Of course most parents do not take their children to swimming lessons before they go to the sea. That would be nigh on impossible as millions of children enjoy their first experience at the beach etc when they are tiny. OP, please do not allow others m to guilt trip you about this. This kinds of incident could happen to any child in the blink of an eye.

MN seems divided on the whole swimming subject. I opened a thread months ago as I was worried about DS(6) who seemed over tired and tearful in the evenings. I was advised to drop his weekly swimming lesson to allow him to chill out after school. When I said that swimming was non-negotiable I was scolded by many posters who said I was projecting my anxiety onto him, many 6 year olds cannot swim and it’s fine, he’ll learn in his own time etc. Yet others were shocked “a 6 year old cannot swim yet” and told me to enrol him onto a private course🤷🏽‍♀️

The sea is also wild water and plenty of children who can't swim paddle there every summer. It's safe if they stay in their depth and have an adult watching them at all times - just as the OP was.