Sport

I like to swim and running and watching football and my favorite  team are kansas  city  chiefs

Teams, probably something that mpst ASD people struggle with

I have never enjoyed participating in sport or watching it, I just don’t see how others enjoy it, a lot of it most probably goes back to school and not being very good at any of it. The competitiveness by others was often quite violent, my coordination is quite poor, being in teams is another hell. Sport just doesn’t ignite my brain.

As a big Disney fan I'm ashamed to say I haven't seen Whinnie the Pooh. I mostly watch the newer Disney movies though I have seen Cinderella which I really liked.

I like some sport but I'm not like an obsessed fan I don't buy lots of sports memorabilia and make sure I watch games as a ritual. My brother is like that he likes football and is crazy about it he's got loads of footballs and loads of clothes and he watches every game when it comes on tv.

I like to play tennis. I started playing at school a couple years ago and I loved it from the start it's something I'm ok at and it helps me feel less anxious so it's a win-win situation for me. Sometimes I'll watch the games on tv but I don't do that to much.

Sorry Eve, I know this is going to upset you, but I think Disney should be banned for crimes against Whinnie the Pooh.

TheCatWoman said:

I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels this way, I was starting to feel like a freak and I feel freakish enough as it is.

You're not a freak  I think a lot of us feel the same way about sport. X

Sport isn't something I find enjoyable or interesting but then I love Disney and find everything about it absolutely wonderful and could info dump about it which many people wouldn't understand.
I was put off sport from a young age though. First time I went out to play rugby with my brothers I had my first ever asthma attack and had to spend the night in hospital, so it lost its appeal really fast for me. Haha.

But I know some people are devoted to it and love it like I do Disney. Each to their own  

I mean it’s just a bit of fun ultimately. But yeh emotions and banter etc can be hard for autistic people to understand because their brains perceive everything literally and such. But yeh it can be fun if you know what’s fun about it but if you can’t understand or experience what’s fun about it then you likely won’t find it fun. You may even perceive the banter and strong emotions to be that of hate or mail intent. Sometimes this is the case but with football for example it’s not so black and white there is shades of grey.

Martin, I agree

I can just about imagine that playing a sport might possibly be rewarding, but the attraction of watching other people play sport is quite beyond my comprehension.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels this way, I was starting to feel like a freak and I feel freakish enough as it is.

In my opinion there is nothing good about sport, except that some forms will keep their practitioners physically fit. For me sport varies from complete disinterest to extreme hatred. The latter response is if I am obliged to participate, thankfully not since school, or if I cannot avoid it impinging on my life in some way (such as football louts yelling in city centres, to traffic jams when sporting events are happening).

Or sport is better than many forms of entertainment because the ubiquity of it shows that it brings joy to countless millions. Maybe someone's favourite show got cancelled because it didn't get as many viewers as yours; broadcast TV is a zero sum game. (Also musical theatre is sometimes amazing). 

I'm very much with you on the second part though. I couldn't care less if the gold medal athlete in the heptathlon is British or American or Nigerian. I root for whoever appeals to me, not whoever has the same kind of passport as me. Patriotism/nationalism is not a net positive force in our world, in sport or otherwise. 

It would make no difference if I removed the Nation aspect, I couldn't do what they do and I wouldn't want to, would they celebrate the things I do well as much as we're all expected to celebrate them?

Or maybe if you removed the nation aspect of it, I think it's worth celebrating someone has an exceptional talent and skill for something. I certainly couldn't do what the gold medalists do. Or the silver or bronze!

I look forward to the programs that get cancelled and moved about due to sport. I'd say sport is worse than other forms of entertainment, with the possible exception of musical theatre, because of the ubiquity of it and the attitudes of people who do enjoy it, why should someone winning an olympic medal make me proud just because we're from the same country, I've been called unpatriotic because of this, that totally floored me, why am I unpatriotic?

It gives people something to look forward to, enjoy and talk about with like minded folk. We all need entertainment, and sport is mostly no worse than any other form of that.

Personally, I find anything raising my heart rate scary so I don't actually do any sports, but I love watching cycling. The beautiful scenery, the relaxing smooth motion of it, the distraction from my problems for a while. 

For me it's not about team or individual sports, they're all equally nasty, it probably didn't help that I was made to do them at school and I was terrible at them, even my friends didn't want me in thier team.

Some things I don't see as sports that our now olympic events, bmx and break dancing, I don't see how they're either sport or competitive?

I find the '..cameraderie..', frightening, partly because I don't understand it and partly because it feels so threatening to those who either don't care, know or are on a different team.

Apart from the fitness side of it, I don't get why sport is seen as so important and generally a good thing, I don't see why team sport is a good thing, or competitiveness. I find the branding around it disgusts me, I find the ignorance about the political aspects staggringly niave.

I resent  normal tv schedules being disrupted for it, I pay my licence fee too.

We get lots of cyclists and cycling clubs round here and they cause lots of friction with locals, they bomb round single track country lanes seemingly unaware of people, car's and animals, there have been numerous accidents, horses and dogs being killed, it's only a matter of time before a child is seriously injured or killed. Cyclists get very hostile to those of us who live and work here and use the small roads to get about, they surround and kick cars, the local farmers have taken to driving around with thier bailing spikes down, which is dangerous for everyone, but especially those who ride at speeds exceeding whats safe.

Sorry that last paragraph was a bit of a rant, but the attitude of some sports people towards non players is shocking, whether it's on roads, parks or pubs. I get fed up with prissy coments like ther's no I in team, I tell them that if you rearrange the letters theres a me!

There are different ways of enjoying sport, and it does not necessarily need to be tribal. I have booked two weeks off work to immerse myself in the Paris Olympics from the comfort of my sofa. The example of Charlotte Worthington in the BMX freestyle final at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 probably sums up my enjoyment - in the final, they had two efforts on the course to perform whatever tricks they liked with their best run counting, and she had fallen in her first run. Rather than play it safe in her second run in an effort to guarantee a medal, she pulled out a trick that had never been landed before by a woman in a competition and that had caused her to fall in the first run (a 360 degree backflip), and won the gold. It was not just the combination of courage and skill that made it so special, but also the jeopardy, not knowing what might happen, the thought of the years of practice and effort that had gone into that moment, and the sheer sense of joy and relief that resulted for her (which admittedly led to some eye-moistening). Sadly, sport is not always that pure and it certainly helps when the people involved are likeable, but at its best it can be magical.

Good luck in the Euros play-off final tonight