WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — In an airy indoor pool with fish cutouts on the walls, a group of young children bobbed, floated and tentatively flutter-kicked.

It was what it looked like, a starter swimming class. But here, instructors worked one-on-one or even two to a child. Some held cards to help kids communicate with teachers by pointing instead of speaking. No one blew whistles.

All the students in the class at the Small Fish Big Fish swim school had autism, a developmental disorder linked to a higher-than-average danger of drowning.

It has long worried autism experts and parents, but recent data make the stakes starkly clear. In Florida, a state where water abounds from beaches to backyards, over 100 children who had autism or were being evaluated for it have drowned since the start of

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