Recruiting

AquOTic

Sponsor:

Ohio State University

Code:

NCT07076264

Conditions

Autism Spectrum Disorders

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 5 - 9

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

AquOTic

Study Details

Brief summary:

AquOTic is an evidence-based, occupational therapy-led intervention designed to enhance water competency and swim safety skills in children on the autism spectrum. The 10-week program consists of weekly 60-minute group sessions, each including six children paired in a 1:1 ratio with an interventionist. Sessions follow a structured routine involving six rotating stations, targeting various swim and safety skills, with the flexibility for individualized support by the interventionist.

Overall, this study has 3 major aims. The first aim evaluates the effectiveness of the AquOTic intervention in improving water competency and swim skills, while comparing outcomes between two implementation models: professional student interventionists (occupational and physical therapy students) and trained community-based interventionists. A total of 108 autistic children will be enrolled and randomly assigned to one of three groups: (1) AquOTic with professional student interventionists, (2) AquOTic with community interventionists, or (3) a control group receiving no AquOTic intervention. The second aim explores the mediators and moderators of the intervention outcomes to assess fidelity and efficacy. The third aim identifies the cost and resources associated with AquOTic. A cost analysis will be conducted to evaluate the resources required for implementation and to inform the development of a scalable, cost-effective drowning prevention strategy for autistic populations.

Conditions

Autism Spectrum Disorders

Study ID

NCT07076264

Start date

Sep 19, 2025

Status verified date

Nov, 2025

Completion date

Apr, 2029

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Apr, 2029

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 5 - 9

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Children Participants (n=108)

Inclusion Criteria

  • Educational or medical diagnosis of autism
  • Age between 5 - 9 years
  • Having vision and hearing within normal limits with or without corrective modifications

Exclusion Criteria

  • Children who demonstrate swim proficiency, as defined by the ability to tread water for 1 minute or move the body through the water without flotation
  • Open wounds or infectious skin diseases
  • Allergy to chlorine
  • Severe co-occurring motor impairments or neurological conditions such as uncontrolled seizures, Rett's or Angelman's syndrome
  • The family is unable to commit to the sessions or evaluations

Interventionists (n=64)

Inclusion Criteria

  • Aged 18 or over
  • Demonstrate swim proficiency, as defined by the ability to tread water for 1 minute and move the body through the water without flotation for 25 yards

Exclusion Criteria

  • Open wounds or infectious diseases
  • Failed background check
  • Unable to commit to Basic Swim Instructor and AquOTic training (\~40 hours) and 10 AquOTic sessions (20 hours)

Study Design

Enrollment

108 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: AquOTic with Professional Student Interventionist

Participants in this arm will participate in the 10-week AquOTic intervention with their one to one interventionists being professional students (OT/PT students currently enrolled at OSU).

experimental: AquOTic with Community Interventionists

Participants in this arm will participate in the 10-week AquOTic intervention with their one to one interventionists being community interventionists (high school or undergraduate students in the community).

no intervention: Control Group

Participants will NOT receive AquOTic intervention and will engage in usual and customary water exposure.

Interventions

AquOTic

AquOTic is an evidence-based, occupational therapy-led intervention designed to enhance water competency and swim safety skills in children on the autism spectrum. The 10-week program consists of weekly 60-minute group sessions, each including six children paired in a 1:1 ratio with an interventionist. Sessions follow a structured routine involving six rotating stations, targeting various swim and safety skills, with the flexibility for individualized support by the interventionist.

Primary outcome measure

  • Water Orientation Test-Alyn (WOTA) 2 [ Time Frame: At baseline, immediately post-AquOTic, 6 months after termination of AquOTic, and 12 months after termination of AquOTic ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Jewel Crasta, PhD

(970) 682 - 8031jewel.crasta@osumc.edu

Erika Kemp, OTD

(608) 335 - 9230erika.kemp@osumc.edu

Locations

The Ohio State University

Recruiting

Columbus, Ohio, United States, 43210

Contacts

Erika Kemp, OTD

(608) 335 - 9230erika.kemp@osumc.edu

Principal Investigator:

Jewel Crasta, PhD

More Information

Sponsor

Ohio State University

Last update posted

Dec 4, 2025

Last verified

Nov, 2025

Keywords

  • Swim Safety
  • Water Competency
  • Occupational Therapy
  • AquOTic
  • Drowning Prevention

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-08. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by Ohio State University on 2025-12-04.