Children with autism have the ability to swim for free in Bay City, MI. thanks to local U.S. Army veteran, Jim Carbaray. The program starts its second year, this December.
The Autistic Swimming Program allows children to have eight one-hour swimming sessions at the Dow Bay Area Family Y pool. The kids who can participate have to be between 6 and 11 years old and registered through Bay City public schools.
Carbary told Mlive.com that the program isn't a series of classes, instead it's an opportunity for the kids to be themselves in the water.
It's just let them be themselves. They're taught all day and all night by professionals what they can do, what they can't do. I watched them last year, and I saw a whole new world of children in their play time. I want these kids to get in there and just play.
The program runs from December 1 through February of next year.
Programs that aid autistic children in the pool have grown popular recently. The Florida Pool Association started a program this year aimed at teaching children with autism how to swim.
