Surfing the Spectrum offers 'life-changing' water therapy for autistic kids

Seven-year-old Hendrix loves watching the waves break over his head when he dives into the ocean.

Being in the water makes him feel «calm and weightless», according to his dad Daniel White, who takes him to the beach up to three times a day.

«Hendy is just the happiest kid in the water,» Mr White says.

«As soon as he knows he's going to the beach or the pool he gets super excited, jumping in and playing with other kids.»

When Hendrix was diagnosed with autism at the age of two, Mr White wasted no time in building his son's confidence in the water.

The next step could be a surfboard.

«I can push him into a small wave on a soft board and he absolutely loves it,» Mr White said.

«Again and again and again we do it in the summer.

»I'd like to get him to learn to surf properly, because I love surfing.

«So if he can come out with me, we can go surfing together one day — that would be fantastic.»

Reactions to water like Hendrix's is what put occupational therapist Aimee Blacker and disability worker Tahlia Anderson in business.

Ms Blacker said seeing the results of water therapy led to the inception of Newcastle-basedSurfing the Spectrum, a volunteer-run organisation for children with autism and their families.

«We just saw the benefits of what it was doing when we were working one-on-one with our clients in the water, with increasing their engagement or their communication or their motivation,» she said.

"[At the start] a child may be non-speaking, or they're really anxious — it's taken a lot to get them to the beach, they don't like the sensation of the sand, the wind, it's busy, it's noisy, all of these things.

"[Then they connect] with their volunteers, getting in the water, catching their wave and then smiling, communicating.

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