Aquatic Therapy for Children with Down Syndrome

As with any diagnosis, there can be many variations of down syndrome traits. Some common traits that can be focused on and improved through aquatic therapy include the following:

Low Muscle Tone - Water offers increased awareness of the body. The water encompasses the body and adds resistance. This gives the brain more information than it typically receives when moving on land. Providing the brain with this information can increase neuromuscular coordination, and the resistance of water can improve strength, therefore increasing muscle tone and improving movements.

Short Attention Span - A child's brain is continually focusing on a multitude of things, including body awareness and cognitive processing. As we master tasks it takes less effort for the brain to complete them and they become repetitive, allowing us to focus on new things for a longer duration.
When immersed in the pool the aquatic environment provides increased input which improves body awareness. This takes away one of the pieces that the brain is trying to focus on, and the child can then focus on cognitive tasks.

Impulsive Behavior - Water is calming. Therapies will focus on achieving and maintaining the "just right" state of calm and awareness. Once achieved, focus can be turned toward increasing awareness and problem-solving skills

Oral Motor Control - The body's natural response to being in the water is to increase posture for better breathing ability and movement. These natural tendencies will increase strength to the neck and oral motor muscles. The therapist can then facilitate desired motions of oral structures for increased coordination and function.

Cardiovascular Difficulties - By being immersed in water up to the chest, the body is building endurance for cardiovascular processes. This is a gentle way to increase strength for the heart and lungs.