Rainbow Club has started in Tamworth, running swimming lessons from Bullimbal School for children with special needs.

Instructor Rohanne Mulligan said she had about 11 children taking lessons of a Saturday afternoon, among them kids with cerebral palsy, autism spectrum disorder or Down syndrome.

She said the number-one goal was for the children “to learn to keep themselves safe in the water”, but that was closely followed by fun and inclusion.

Rainbow Club Australia was founded almost 50 years ago by a lifeguard who wanted children with disabilities to have access to swimming lessons that understood and met their needs.

Ms Mulligan, who also owns Aquatic Kids Swim Academy, said she decided to become a Rainbow Club instructor because she knew it was a much-needed service.

“We are mindful that some children’s movements are not the same, their muscles won’t be the same, so we have to make allowances,” she said.

“Kids with cerebral palsy, for example, cold water won’t work because their muscles tense up, so we tend to keep them in warmer water …

“Sometimes kids with sensory processing disorders just can not cope with noise or too much light, so with a one-on-one lesson the pool is much calmer and they tend to learn better in a better environment.”

Ms Mulligan said the instructors were also able to keyword-sign, and had visual aids for kids who needed them.

“Some children are not going to learn like a typically developing child, so you just have to make allowances,” she said.

”Some days it works and some days it doesn’t, but it’s like that with any child.”

Tamworth woman Renae Humphris has enrolled two children in Rainbow Club.

Peter and Ella are both eight years old, have autism and are non-verbal.

“They both love the water and would swim a couple times a day if they could – just love the water,” Mrs Humphris said.

“As they need lots more direction, Rainbow Club have made it so much easier, understanding their disability, so the kids can have the basic skills to save themselves in case anything happens.

“The kids have been there the two weeks and they are loving it, and they have made it very affordable as well.”

Ms Mulligan said sometimes cost or busy-ness got in the way of kids going to swimming school.

“I also think it’s family choices as well: kids aren’t hanging out at the pool any more, like we did when we were growing up,” she said.

“Some of it started when parents had to pay to go into the pool and be a spectator, but some of it is that we’re all too busy [with other activities].

“But as my daughter once said, doing a pirouette going into the river isn’t going to save your life.

“I think this is the first thing you should do before they learn ballet.”

Ms Mulligan said Rainbow Club lessons were “very heavily subsidised”, but parents or carers could also have them included in NDIS planning.

She said learning to swim was a valuable skill for anyone, “even if it’s just building up muscles and confidence, or the option that if Mum and Dad take them on a holiday they can go for a swim, too”.

“If they can’t walk, if they have cerebral palsy, they still can swim; freestyle might not look like what you and I might do, but in the water we’re all equal.”