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."
'Life-changing' benefits
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-based Surfing 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.
"You can have such a big shift in a child in a 30-minute time period."
Disability support worker and Surfing the Spectrum volunteer Byron Hoskins said he had seen "life-changing" benefits over the years.
"They come out of the water a different person," he said.
"They might have a greater attention span, they're socialising, they're talking, they're reacting to the world that's around them.
"It's something special."
Community bands together
The organisation is holding its first ever Gold Coast event this weekend, with more than 60 families expected to attend.
"Anything where you can get a lot of families together so that they can chat about their experiences … is really good," Mr White said.
Ms Blacker said it was important that families did not feel "judged" and had a place where they were "really welcomed" to come and be themselves.
"Whether they've got kids that are very excited to be there, or they've got kids that this is a really tough day for them — they may be used to having the community look or stare or watch or judge," she said.
"For a lot of the families, the siblings give up a lot of their time for their sibling with a disability and they often miss out.
"A really, really important part of what we do is making sure that they can connect together."
Safety a priority
After Hendrix's diagnosis, Mr White focused on keeping him safe.
"I read early on a lot of autistic kids drown because they love the water so much," he said.
"I always got Hendy [in the water] from very early on, pretty much every day."
As a city lifeguard, Mr Hoskins believes disability should not be a barrier of surf safety.
"It's important everyone gets the opportunity to be safe and to learn how to look after themselves in that environment," he said.
"We all live so close to the beach and the city is surrounded by beaches, water and pools.
"It's the way of life here on the Gold Coast."
About 30 volunteers are set to attend Currumbin beach on Saturday for the Surfing the Spectrum event.
Ms Blacker says there will be several volunteers to focus on each child.
Source: ABC