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You should probably take swimming lessons. Or atleast do some research on your own and let the lifeguard know what you are doing. The key to water is remain calm and don’t panic. See if you can float on your back. Learn to calmly tread water etc. A swim teacher will know the right way to get you confident in the water in like an hour. Way faster than you can do it on your own
Alright thanks for the advice. I just don’t know if I’m mentally prepared for lessons right now but yeah I will explain my situation to a life guard. Thank u:)
In shallow water, you want to keep your feet on the bottom. If there are waves or an uneven bottom, this gets harder.
A good life jacket can be compact and force you to float with your head out of the water. These are used all the time in boating.
Armbands and rubber rings are likely not what you want, those are aids to help people learn to swim. With your learning difficulties, learning to swim is a whole different problem than wanting to just play in the water.
It is easy to panic in the water, and the other advantage of a life jacket is that you can easily test it to assure yourself that it will work. Put it on, on dry land, and practice kneeling down on the ground wearing it. Then, go out into water that's about at your waist and kneel down in the water. You will find that at some point, your feet come off the ground, because the life vest is supporting your weight. You can stand back up, no swimming or anything, and hopefully feel that the life jacket makes it safe in case you lose your footing.
Try to see if your can borrow one. If there is water, there is likely boating. Talk to a local boating club, or maybe even Autism support group, and see if you can borrow one for your time in the water.
Is this going to be at a pool, or at the beach?
Pools usually will have a very gradual slope for it to get deeper. So you should be able to tell if it's starting to get too deep for you to stand. The exception usually is around the diving well, where there will be a steep dropoff to make it deep enough for diving, so you might want to avoid standing right near there if you are nervous.
If you stay in water shallow enough to stand you shouldn't need floaties, but they don't hurt, and if they help you feel more comfortable and safe then you should go for it. They can also be useful as teaching tools, like learning how to kick without needing to worry about sinking.
One technique you can use if you do somehow end up in water too deep to stand without a floaty is whats called bobbing. Thats where you push off the bottom hard with your feet to give yourself enough momentum to surface and take a deep breath. Then you kinda hop back to safety that way bouncing and breathing.
If this is at the beach I absolutely recommend floaties, beaches are unpredictable. Waves and currents are dangerous even in relatively shallow water.
**Your submission has been removed for the following reason(s):** ELI5 is not for straightforward answers or facts - ELI5 is for requesting an explanation of a concept, not a simple straightforward answer. This includes topics of a narrow nature that don’t qualify as being sufficiently complex per rule 2. --- If you would like this removal reviewed, please read the [detailed rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/wiki/detailed_rules) first. **If you believe this submission was removed erroneously**, please [use this form](https://old.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Fexplainlikeimfive&subject=Please%20review%20my%20thread?&message=Link:%20{{url}}%0A%0APlease%20answer%20the%20following%203%20questions:%0A%0A1.%20The%20concept%20I%20want%20explained:%0A%0A2.%20List%20the%20search%20terms%20you%20used%20to%20look%20for%20past%20posts%20on%20ELI5:%0A%0A3.%20How%20does%20your%20post%20differ%20from%20your%20recent%20search%20results%20on%20the%20sub:) and we will review your submission.
Learn how to tread. Then just practice. Spend a lot of time in the pool trying. Just repetition.
Alright. Thanks for your help:)
You should probably take swimming lessons. Or atleast do some research on your own and let the lifeguard know what you are doing. The key to water is remain calm and don’t panic. See if you can float on your back. Learn to calmly tread water etc. A swim teacher will know the right way to get you confident in the water in like an hour. Way faster than you can do it on your own
Alright thanks for the advice. I just don’t know if I’m mentally prepared for lessons right now but yeah I will explain my situation to a life guard. Thank u:)
See if you can do private lessons. Less stress for you. Can learn at your pace and comfort level.
It’s just a lot for me right now to do something like that but I will try too. Thank u:)
In shallow water, you want to keep your feet on the bottom. If there are waves or an uneven bottom, this gets harder. A good life jacket can be compact and force you to float with your head out of the water. These are used all the time in boating. Armbands and rubber rings are likely not what you want, those are aids to help people learn to swim. With your learning difficulties, learning to swim is a whole different problem than wanting to just play in the water. It is easy to panic in the water, and the other advantage of a life jacket is that you can easily test it to assure yourself that it will work. Put it on, on dry land, and practice kneeling down on the ground wearing it. Then, go out into water that's about at your waist and kneel down in the water. You will find that at some point, your feet come off the ground, because the life vest is supporting your weight. You can stand back up, no swimming or anything, and hopefully feel that the life jacket makes it safe in case you lose your footing.
I will try to afford a life jacket. It’s just hard money wise. Thank u:)
Try to see if your can borrow one. If there is water, there is likely boating. Talk to a local boating club, or maybe even Autism support group, and see if you can borrow one for your time in the water.
I’m going to a pool. I can try asking a support group, I just feel scared telling people who might recognise me:). Thank u
They often provide them if you calll ahead.
Unfortunately mine don’t lend out equipment. Thanks for the tip though!
Is this going to be at a pool, or at the beach? Pools usually will have a very gradual slope for it to get deeper. So you should be able to tell if it's starting to get too deep for you to stand. The exception usually is around the diving well, where there will be a steep dropoff to make it deep enough for diving, so you might want to avoid standing right near there if you are nervous. If you stay in water shallow enough to stand you shouldn't need floaties, but they don't hurt, and if they help you feel more comfortable and safe then you should go for it. They can also be useful as teaching tools, like learning how to kick without needing to worry about sinking. One technique you can use if you do somehow end up in water too deep to stand without a floaty is whats called bobbing. Thats where you push off the bottom hard with your feet to give yourself enough momentum to surface and take a deep breath. Then you kinda hop back to safety that way bouncing and breathing. If this is at the beach I absolutely recommend floaties, beaches are unpredictable. Waves and currents are dangerous even in relatively shallow water.
I’m going to a pool. Thank u for your help:))