If you have a 'high functioning' Aspe...
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If you have a 'high functioning' Aspe...
| Tue, 05-09-2006 - 11:55pm |
If you have a 'high functioning' Asperger's kid, are they interested in sports?
- Yes; My child actually plays sports
- Yes; But my child only watches sports or looks at stats
- Yes; my child both plays sports & follows game/stats
- NO WAY (sports?????!!!!!)
- Only if they can eat junk food at the sporting event!
- No; but will participate in Phys Ed at school
You will be able to change your vote.

I have to qualify my answer. My kids do play sports but it is adapted or set up just for them with modifications.
They absolutely can't play team sports. Every time we have tried it was a disaster. Though this year Mike did play basketball with kids about 2-3 years younger than him and it was only 1/2 a disaster.
Cait does hippotherapy, Mike does karate with an understanding sensei. This is our 3rd attempt and this one seems to be going ok so far.
In the past we have done regular team sports (disaster), special ed team sports (my kids aren't the "team" type- though Cait dug the uniform and the snacks), etc.
So they do do sports but it isn't typical and it hasn't been easy but I do think it important for kids to have outlets and hobbies.
Renee
I could only vote once, but both kids play sports. They are both vestibular and proprioceptive sensory seekers, so soccer and karate are our big things. Swimming is good too, but we only do it for recreation.
Soccer would work out a lot less well if DH was not their soccer coach (both teams).
Peter, almost 8 is HFA and we need to work on his sportsmanship a lot: That they don't always have to win. That the other team are not evil. That a disappointing play is not a reason to storm off the field shouting "That's IT! I'm outta here!" (it was funny when he was 3, not now). He finds it easier to play goal, where the action comes from one direction and he doesn't have to sustain focus for extended periods; -only when the play comes his way. He also likes to throw himself about and wear a different shirt, so goalie suits him well.
Siobhan, who is much higher-functioning, does a lot better. She tends to hyperfocus on the ball when things are moving at pace, and can therefore lose sight of some other important factors, such as which goal she should aim at...
Coach Dad has his hands full.
Siobhan also does better than Peter at Karate. Her motor planning, sequencing, focus and and attention are better than his under these circumstances. -Peter does better with these things at the instinctive level -like at soccer, than at the cognitive level, such as in Karate. Karate is great for improving all of these things, and Peter has made good progress.
-Paula
visit my blog at www.onesickmother.com
I guess I need to qualify my answer, too. My 9yo NT son LOVES sports and is athletically gifted. My other two are sure they are, too, and want to sign up for everything even tho' they struggle to keep up and get upset once they're actually in a team competition setting. A couple of years ago I signed everyone up for soccer. I had a newborn to tote around and three separate practices/games to get everyone to. The now 7yo NLD ds would follow everyone around the field but never actually knew where the ball was even when it was right under his feet. My now 11yo NLD dd was certain she was the star of the team even tho' she was often out of position, missed the ball, didn't understand all the rules, etc. Just the other day she was recalling a game where she scored the only two goals of the game and won the day for her team (never happened)! They loved the social aspect of the game, they loved the treats afterward, but there was waaaaay too much emotional drama for me to do it again with them (not to mention that they were traveling teams, so the games were in all different directions). We were blessed to be in a league that focuses on teaching skills and making all the little kids winners (the under 6yo didn't keep score, and the referees would often stop the game to point a kid in the right direction or give instruction). The kids have memories of it being a good season for them, but I wouldn't do it again.
The last couple of years I signed everyone up for swim lessons. By the end of the 2nd year, my now 7yo could finally put his face in the water, my 11yo could pass the swim test (even tho' she looked like she was drowning), and my 9yo was starting to look like a fish. All of the kids are excited about improving their skills this coming season. Even tho' there's still been some emotional drama, they seem to do better with individual sports rather than in the team setting. And, since the pool's only a block from home, it's easier to go home if anyone's having a meltdown.
The kids also generally enjoy PE at school even tho' I occasionally hear stories about sad moments in class.
Now that I gave you the long answer, the short answer is that the kids all THINK they love sports, but they don't know that much about them (except NT ds), they don't do well playing them, and they often have sad moments while participating (assuming we can convince them to participate).
Oh boy... do we like sports in our family! Jason played baseball for about 5 years, until I REALLY realized how political the league was (although a great league). I worried about the parents who spent hours talking about which high school their son was going to go to and when they needed to transfer so they can get on the baseball team... ugh! So, we stopped baseball and tried soccer and he ended up the season the second highest scoring player. He decided to play basketball last season both on his middle school's team and the rec team. Loved it and was very good, although he has a little bit of "white man syndrome".. can't jump for the life of him. He is playing soccer again this spring season and is really excelling as goalie... made an AWESOME play on Saturday that the coach is still talking about.
In basketball, I feel that he feels that he needs to live up to the reputation in the family, so it is difficult for him (we had 2 former professional players - one being one of the 50 best basketball players ever and one current pro player in our family). Big expectations for a fan and player..
Jason also follows every sports stats -- the sport page is the first thing he gets in the morning and sometimes we need to tell him that we don't care who won last night. Both his dad and my fiance are big sports nuts, so it is something he can watch or talk about with them.
My daughter plays soccer also, and loves it and I play tennis (neither one of them like tennis --- darn it!)
Katie
my son is Dx HFA, he plays some sports-- not really well, but ok. He played soccer for 3 yrs and did alright, but we had a not great coach for 2 of those yrs. Finally had to move to a different team.
My son plays football at recess and did play flag football this spring. It went ok, not stellar but was not a negative experience. and he follows the Packers NFL team and knows a lot about the players (almost an obsession).
He also follows the Chicago Cubs baseball team-- because that's my obsession. However after the first 2 yrs of t-ball we gave up playing that because he just got too frustrated and too over stimulated.
Betsy