Welcome back to Reading the Research, where I trawl the Internet to find noteworthy research on autism and related subjects, then discuss it in brief with bits from my own life, research, and observations.
Today's article is encouraging, but really got me wondering whether it would have made a difference for my life, specifically. Researchers at the University of South Australia have put together a program to help sports coaches include and teach special needs kids. Included are supports for sensory issues, introductions to the equipment, literal language rather than jargon, and visual teaching methods.
So, this is good, right? Well... I personally have a very low opinion of sports overall. I'm sure some of that is sour grapes, because I've had maybe one positive experience when being a part of a sports team. It was my local soccer team in grade school, and we won second place or something. Every other team or pickup group I've been a part of was... let's say "a miserable experience" and move on.
Is that because the coaches and other children had no idea how to teach me or handle my unusual autistic self, and as a result I was excluded and outcast even more than usual? Is it because my personal klutziness didn't lend itself well to being a sports star? Is it because I'm heavily introverted and usually extroverts do better in team sports?
Probably the answer is D) All of the Above, As Well as Other Unlisted Factors. Would a program like this have helped make team sports a more positive experience for me? Probably. Would that have generated less negativity towards exercise and sports in general? Probably. Would it make me struggle less in other aspects of life? Perhaps, if the team sports resulted in friendships and personal connections.
It's a moot point in regards to my life specifically, but it's not moot when it comes to autistic kids present and future. So I'm glad, if a bit dubious, that programs like these are being developed.
I actually have other issues with team sports, but those objections are more philosophical in nature and not so easy to address in broad brush strokes. I dislike tribalism in the extreme, because I'm almost invariably excluded from the "in group" in such situations. I also think sports that involve a lot of body contact or outright fighting (American football and boxing, for example) are barbaric, and the fact that these athletes' bodies and brains are wrecked in a decade or so is really horrifying. That second objection shouldn't exclude less vicious sports from existing (baseball comes to mind). I guess e-sports might eventually rise to prominence as well, though those will be considerably less healthy for the players than the kind you run around outside doing.
Fortunately for everyone who loves sports, I will likely never be put in charge of which sports live and which die. And perhaps, with programs to help coaches teach autistic kids, more autistic people in the future won't hate sports the way I do.
(Pst! If you like seeing the latest autism-relevant research, visit my Twitter, which has links and brief comments on studies that were interesting, but didn't get a whole Reading the Research article about them.)
So, this is good, right? Well... I personally have a very low opinion of sports overall. I'm sure some of that is sour grapes, because I've had maybe one positive experience when being a part of a sports team. It was my local soccer team in grade school, and we won second place or something. Every other team or pickup group I've been a part of was... let's say "a miserable experience" and move on.
Is that because the coaches and other children had no idea how to teach me or handle my unusual autistic self, and as a result I was excluded and outcast even more than usual? Is it because my personal klutziness didn't lend itself well to being a sports star? Is it because I'm heavily introverted and usually extroverts do better in team sports?
Probably the answer is D) All of the Above, As Well as Other Unlisted Factors. Would a program like this have helped make team sports a more positive experience for me? Probably. Would that have generated less negativity towards exercise and sports in general? Probably. Would it make me struggle less in other aspects of life? Perhaps, if the team sports resulted in friendships and personal connections.
It's a moot point in regards to my life specifically, but it's not moot when it comes to autistic kids present and future. So I'm glad, if a bit dubious, that programs like these are being developed.
I actually have other issues with team sports, but those objections are more philosophical in nature and not so easy to address in broad brush strokes. I dislike tribalism in the extreme, because I'm almost invariably excluded from the "in group" in such situations. I also think sports that involve a lot of body contact or outright fighting (American football and boxing, for example) are barbaric, and the fact that these athletes' bodies and brains are wrecked in a decade or so is really horrifying. That second objection shouldn't exclude less vicious sports from existing (baseball comes to mind). I guess e-sports might eventually rise to prominence as well, though those will be considerably less healthy for the players than the kind you run around outside doing.
Fortunately for everyone who loves sports, I will likely never be put in charge of which sports live and which die. And perhaps, with programs to help coaches teach autistic kids, more autistic people in the future won't hate sports the way I do.
(Pst! If you like seeing the latest autism-relevant research, visit my Twitter, which has links and brief comments on studies that were interesting, but didn't get a whole Reading the Research article about them.)
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