Our oldest son is an Aspie with a special interest in sport and fitness. Despite having both fine and gross motor skills issues, compounded by the usual social and communications hassle, he's managed to master riding a bike (five years but he got there), learn to swim (quite well and with good endurance) and has played rugby (in local club teams) for six years. He does weight training three times a week, cardio circuits twice a week, and does cross-country runs three times a week. The mental health workers and psychologists who work with his social skills group say his physical skills are outstanding compared with most Aspies—largely down to his obsession with his getting his form 100% correct. It might take him years to get something right, but if that's what it takes…
However, as he heads into his mid-teens he's finding it increasingly difficult to take part as sport clubs and coaches don't want Aspies (swimming club wouldn't take him, football didn't work, current rugby coach is very negative etc.) The majority of players are very good—seeing his idiosyncracies as no different to the rituals of professional athletes—but club officials and coaches find it too difficult, to challenging and too threatening to have "one of this mental kids" in their sport. On top of that, we're in a rural part of Scotland so there's a shortage of sporting opportunities and facilities. So, I contacted Scottish Disability Sports regional manager to see if there were sports that might be more welcoming/inclusive of Apsies.
I was astonished when she replied to say that autism doesn't fit the disability classifications of the Paralympics and Commonwealth Games, therefore sporting people with autism fall outwith the remit of Scottish Disability Sports. I find it bizarre that people with autism are regarded as able bodied when it comes to sport—the condition is known to be associated with deficiencies in motor skills, compounded by communication and social skills issues, but it's not seen as a sporting disability.
So, if Scottish Disability Sports can't help as autism isn't a sporting disability, what are we supposed to do to help our son get into a sport that's genuinely inclusive of Aspies?
To be honest, we don't have the time or resources to go after every organisation and individual who excludes or discriminates against him on the basis of him having an ASD. We've done it once, against his school, and won, but it was exhausting, took years, cost us a lot and they're already backsliding several months on. And as we live in a rural area, there's overspill so one of the reasons he's not wanted in the swimming club is because one of the teachers from the school is an official with the club. If we take on the swimming club, or the football club, or the rugby clubs, or the judo club, (or, outside the sports arena, the Cubs, the music teacher etc) etc then there will be overflow into other activities that involve many of the same people and their friends. It's simply not possible to fight each and every case of exclusion from activities.
To be honest, we don't have the time or resources to go after every organisation and individual who excludes or discriminates against him on the basis of him having an ASD. We've done it once, against his school, and won, but it was exhausting, took years, cost us a lot and they're already backsliding several months on. And as we live in a rural area, there's overspill so one of the reasons he's not wanted in the swimming club is because one of the teachers from the school is an official with the club. If we take on the swimming club, or the football club, or the rugby clubs, or the judo club, (or, outside the sports arena, the Cubs, the music teacher etc) etc then there will be overflow into other activities that involve many of the same people and their friends. It's simply not possible to fight each and every case of exclusion from activities.
