I only throw autism in the title so often for search engine optimization purposes. They essentially make you do it in order to be found on Google. Anyway, after two additional basketball practices, things are going much better for Curtis.
In his second week, he anticipated that the team was going to huddle up after warm-ups and was able to transition into the group. He participated in a lay-up line and worked on dribbling skills with only occasional frustrations. He was distracted but participating. We'll take that.
In week 3, he was even more comfortable and willing to participate in drills and exercises. He isn't crazy about actual games situations just yet. The flow of the game, who he is supposed to guard, the fact that you can only shoot on one of the hoops, etc. are all concepts that escape him right now, but he's far from the only second grader in that boat.
In hindsight, I realize it would have been good to have a conversation with the coach before that first practice. I'm sure he had at least a rough idea of the sequence the practice would follow and me and his mom could have prepped Curtis better for the practice. For all he knew, basketball practice was going to be like when him and dad play. Especially since I actually call what we do basketball practice.
In hindsight, Curtis was surprised when he had to go from shooting warm-ups to sitting in a circle. He wasn't ready for that and wasn't able to recover from it that first week. But I'm happy to see and report that he's doing a lot better since and we're seeing an obvious building block to doing similar activities like this with his friends in the future. Also in hindsight, his mom had a great idea getting him into this now. I didn't think he was ready but if everything with autism is about hitting it early, then why should this be any different? Can't wait to laugh once these games get going. We'll see how well this defense tactic (pictured below) works out once there is a tip-off .


Greg, Dad

Joining a team sport is a huge step for a child with autism, let alone one just in the second grade. Curtis was never more than lukewarm on the idea, but knowing he had a couple of friends who would be playing basketball helped to make him feel better about joining the team. He was at least curious and that was a start.

As his parents, Laura and I weighed potential pros and cons and figured it was worth a shot. Nothing teaches like experience, and it had been some time since we had tried something like this. Anyway, pictured is the view Curtis had for most of his first basketball practice last Wednesday.

The practice started off great. Curtis fit right in during warmups, sinking a good percentage of his baskets, counting them, and playing among friends. However, the wheels came off rather quickly when warm-ups were done and the kids were to sit in a circle at half court to discuss the season, the rules, team name, etc. Curtis just wanted to shoot baskets. The way he plays basketball with his dad. When I put the ball he was using aside so his playing wouldn't distract the team, he followed me into the supply closet and watched much of the practice from there with me and his mom.

The first practice proved to be an enormous challenge and there were a number of factors working against its success. These included the fact that this was an out of the norm after school activity, bright gym lights, multiple bouncing balls, new rules, expectations of team work, the gym is hot, all leading to sensory overload for the little man. He was clearly overwhelmed by the situation, never really understanding why he couldn't just stand under the hoop and shoot the whole time. He just wanted to go home. His mom took him out in the hall for breaks but insisted we stay for the entire practice, even if it was just so Curtis could watch his friends play and get a sense of how these practices would go. He stayed the whole time, and for day one, that was good enough.

The plan at this point is to keep going every week and try to expand his participation slowly. He has another practice on Wednesday, and the goal will be to get him to participate in at least one drill or meeting and again stay for the whole practice. We plan to take it slow, and not make Curtis do anything he isn't comfortable doing, at the same time anticipating that his own curiosity and drive will bring him to want to participate more as the season develops. My initial thought was that he simply isn't ready for this but his mom reminded me that swimming started much the same way. It began with hesitancy, confusion, and some of the outright defiance we've come to know so well as parents of an autistic child. But now he is doing laps in a pool, and maybe soon he'll be passing a ball to a teammate.

The fact that he is willing to give the basketball team a shot is a success on its own. And hopefully as he continues to go to these practices, the overwhelming feeling he felt that first week will subside and he'll eventually walk away from one of these practices saying "that wasn't such a big deal". Regardless of what happens at his second practice tomorrow, he'll get hugs from his parents when its done and we'll make sure he knows we're proud of him.

Greg, Dad

      We started Curtis at Easter Seals for early autism intervention services as soon as we could, the fall after he turned two years old. He was largely unconcerned with his classmates during his three years at Easter Seals and while socializing was important to us, at the time it was not as important as the speech and occupational therapies he was receiving. During these years, we were still trying to figure out exactly what was happening with Curtis and wanted him getting exposure to people who knew how to treat this condition.
      As Curtis turned 5, we explored different programs for youth sports and considered enrolling him in something. The way he played and interacted with typically developing children made it seem unlikely he could make it through a program like this but you don't really know until you try. Special needs athletic programs were difficult to come by he was 5, so we paid $40 to enroll him in an intro to baseball program for kids 4 and 5 years old. We discussed Curtis' condition with the program director who didn't think he would stick out as many of the kids ended up off doing their own thing at some point in the class. Let's just say the typical kids behaving badly had nothing on Curtis. He was dead set against proper participation and didn't understand who the instructor was or why he should listen to him.
      We understand more clearly now how much Curtis feeds off the energy in a given room or environment. For example, in addition to the noise, a cafeteria can be a chaotic time for kids and Curtis has a hard time with even a controlled school cafeteria. The sounds (clanging, slamming, yelling, excitement) just seem amplified to his ears. This intro to baseball program started simply enough with the instructor trying to line the kids up to toss a ball to each other. But kids were laughing, and walking, and yelling to their parents, and Curtis exhibited that energy by an exponent of four. He rarely ever stood in one spot as the instructor requested at his opening. He couldn't stand in his spot long enough to wait for a return pass on a ball he had just thrown. He just wanted to run. This program felt like a mistake.
      Laura was an patient as possible and when Curtis would run, she would walk him back over to the spot he was to stand on near the other kids. This just became a game to him and he would bolt in anticipation of Laura returning him. Some kids played pass, some kids stood still, and then there was Curtis, running and screaming all over the place. The parent glares were as bad this day as any I can remember. At one point, Laura retreated to the bathroom to cry briefly while I walked Curtis outside to an empty playground. A place he felt much more comfortable. There is certainly a frustration about not being able to control this type of situation. We left after maybe 15 minutes but returned over the course of the program to get Curtis familiar with coming to this school, at this time, for this reason, to increase his familiarity. We left only when we felt he was becoming too much of a distraction to the other kids who always had little idea what to make of Curtis.
      The baseball course was not a success but we tried again when he was almost 6, signing him up to play soccer with 4 and 5 year olds. He makes so much progress all the time that it's worth it to us to push him and see what he can handle. Plus, he had demonstrated a real interest in soccer and maybe this would be a better fit. In reality, it didn't go a whole lot better than the baseball.
      He had a soccer doll at home that he called "Soccer Boy" that we got out of one of those claw machines months before. On the first day of soccer, the patient instructor tried to start with some basic drills as any instructor would. Again, most kids did not have a hard time lining up and kicking the ball back and forth but Curtis did. He would run, yell, sing, doing anything to prove he didn't have to do what the instructor requested. Then he started calling the instructor "Soccer Boy", as in "Leave me alone, Soccer Boy!", etc. I could tell by the look on the guy's face that he was unimpressed with the moniker, though Curtis didn't mean it as demeaning as it sounded. Still, the instructor had a "you have to be kidding me" look on his face and soccer signs-ups were team sports disaster number two.
      At 7 and a half years old and after much progress, we still don't have a team sports success story, but we're working on it. We feel at the mercy of the types of programs in the area and an honest assessment of what Curtis can handle. We were going to sign him up for a special needs athletic program last year that was cancelled. There is also a "challenger" baseball program though his baseball interest is still minimal. A special needs soccer or basketball program is probably an ideal setting for Curtis, especially if we can get another kid he knows to do the program with him. Though I'm willing to bet he's better at basketball than most kids his age, he still has a hard time with passing and following a structure of the game and I could still see him throwing in the towel 5 minutes into the first session, swearing he'll never go back. However, Curtis maintains the curiosity and willingness to do new things and that's what we consider most important. Eventually, we find when we work tirelessly with him on things, he usually does come around. So maybe one of these days we will have a successful story along the team sports line to share. Until that time, he'll get his usual one on one instruction from those who care about him the most, and we don't have a problem with that. He will be ready when he is ready.

Greg, Dad